I recall my parents having way more energy, and what seemed like more free time. I succeeded in raising my daughter, seeing her married (twice), three grand kids, chased every meaningful relationship out of my life, I just put one of two dogs to sleep and now find myself wandering around my home thinking "its too big..." well, ok, maybe I need that because I have too much stuff so it works..., but still... I'm too restless to read or write music. I'm not hungry enough to cook for one. I'm rarely that interested in TV. In an hour, I have to go back to work for about an hour. Then what? I could be prudent and go home and not watch TV, read or cook.... I'll likely go waste money at a bar, hoping a couple of beers will make me feel tired enough that I can go home and not mind being too restless to actually do something productive. So as I wander from room to room thinking "this would be fine if I had Alzheimers... but then of course I wouldn't be having such thoughts..
I realize I may not be the norm, but what is the norm? In my teens, 20's, 30's, it was pretty easy to figure out what I wanted, what I was supposed to be doing with myself. Now those things have either been achieved or slipped from my grasp and lost forever. So what do I do now? How do I move forward? It seems those simple skills that came so easily to a younger man elude me now. So I end up in a house with a dog feeling like I'm destined to be the crazy old grumpy guy on the block where all the neighborhood kids are afraid to go past the house... Oh, and BTW... Stay the heck off my lawn!!!!!
Now for the really funny part.. well, maybe not so funny.. I don't remember how long ago I wrote the above words.. At least a year?? But the thing is, they rang true at the time.. a year or less and a big difference.. I was then contemplating life and now I am contemplating death. I was lamenting a future I may soon long for but which might no longer be available to me. How quickly things change. One moment I am making fun of what a tough thing it is to get older, and the next I am wondering if I will ever be old enough. I suppose there is never a good time for it to end. Whether 60 minutes or 60 years, it is never enough time to get where you wish you could have been. I guess some do it.. Eienstein.. McCartney.. Carlin.. genius has a better chance at it, but do (did) they feel they have (had) achieved all they could and wanted to in life? Were they content with their contribution?? I am not, for sure! But I am not of that caliber. Still I have to believe we all want to leave a mark on this world. For many, a family business or a family ripe with progeny is sufficient. Perhaps a plaque on the Memorial Day Town Square or a new wing on the hospital.. to each their own of course. I believe it to be a personal bar, a self imposed standard of achievement that one sets for themself that measures our relative level of success in this world. Within our own terms. Really it just says "I passed this way, remember me, I hope I made a difference..". I oft times feel that had someone in my life pulled me aside and explained it all to me, I would have been better equipped and done a better job of maximizing my potential. A suffiecent head start as it were. Sure, people like Aristotle, Newton, DaVinchi could likely feel fulfilled in our eyes, but likely they were not. There is always going to be regret that fades with us. Those final thoughts that say "If Only!!" If only I did.. if only I didn't, regrets in one form or another... But still, in spite of it all, regardless of those regrets there is so much to to be thankful for, having passed through this life. Simple pleasures like food, sex, laughter and flowers. Friends, the ocean, a sunny day. A true love... Does existence continue or is dead just dead. Will I miss those things? I can't help but believe I will... I'm starting to already..
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Saturday, February 23, 2013
LI Music Scene Part II
Some time ago I wrote about the Long Island music scene. In doing so, I approached it from the perspective of a musician, as well as one that grew up on Long Island in what could be considered it's hey-day of live music. There were venues back then that filled the space between the local pubs and places like Madison Square Garden and Nassau Coliseum. Mid-size places. By mid-size I mean places that could hold more than 30 people and up to 300-400 people. They had names like Hammerheads, Wooden Ships, Rumbottoms, Speaks, Malibu, The OBI, Rumrunners, and of course My Fathers Place. You could go to these venues and see all kinds of music from great cover bands to original artists including some that would become legends of their era. Those days seemed to have disappeared. Or, at least the venues of this type did. Economy? Changes in the drinking age? Changes in smoking and DUI laws? A combination of all of these? Add to that the changes in the music industry both in genera as well as distribution. CD, mp3's, iPods, Internet peer to peer sharing all made going out to see a band seem like more effort than was necessary. Classic Rock while still enjoying the remainder of it's 9-lives is mainly found on the radio and in smaller bars where the bands playing it rely on their aging friends to come out at what is excessively late for working middle class people with kids to have their 8/10ths of a drink per hour with a two drink limit and to get home in time to pay the baby sitter or make sure the teenagers aren't having a party of their own, and still be able to do their weekend errands the next day. The newer genres such as rap, hip-hop, electronic, house, dub, etc, all tend more towards a DJ / dance club environment and less a serious live music venue. Jazz is all but gone and best found in Manhattan. Other than Metal / Hard Core which seems to dominate the Long Island "live" music scene, there's not a lot of options.
Recently (and by karmic intervention) I've had the opportunity to approach the experience from the venues perspective. In a sincere attempt to help a local fraternal organization of which I am a member, the Glen Cove Moose Lodge, I attempted to use the opportunity to make a plug for live music. It started as a small open mic night which would use the main hall of the lodge as a place local musicians can go for free and play and anyone can go and listen or join in. With $100 from my pocket, I purchased a small PA for this purpose. The word went out and interested musicians showed up. Quiet a few after a few months and we had to upgrade the PA. No problem there, it was worth the effort and working out. Once a week, whatever musicians we interested came down and either played solo for the crowd or joined in a larger jam. Unfortunately as the warmer weather approached people had other things to do and the City also hosted a free downtown concert series on the same night. They obtained fairly large name acts and drew a good crowd. There was no thought of competing with that. In fact, there was never a thought of competing at all. The entire exercise had been to help the lodge stay afloat while promoting music for both musicians and their audience. That was about to change.
As the fall off in attendance was felt, I used the wonders of modern technology to advertise the lodge facility more. A hall that could hold 100 people, a PA system, a full bar downstairs complete with a free pool table, dart board and shuffle board table all available to musicians and bands at no cost to do a show... what more could one ask for? I'll tell you... My advertising was noticed by some promoters of the metal / hard core genera. They inquired about doing shows. We set it up with them and its worked out wonderfully. In fact so much so, that we had to upgrade the PA system again. This time substantially. (They play loud!) So... with funds donated by a very generous member, we put in four large 3-Way JBL speaker cabinets powered by three separate power-amps with an active 3-Way crossover and EQ pre-amping them and a small mixing board. A separate monitor system with its own power-amp and 4 speakers we also added ...and while we were at it, we decided to add a small lighting system. What did we end up with? A real venue. It wasn't planned that way, it evolved that way. It dawned on us when one event drew over 200 people that we needed to be able to handle all this. With the upgrade to the PA and the lights, came the need to upgrade the way we were doing business. Business??? Yes.., it became a business. We had to have staff, clean up before and after every show, stock supplies, have security, ID people, purchase food, maintain the equipment and all the activities and costs that go with the territory. We ended up with a mid-sized venue. The very thing I had lamented on the loss of. So now I know first hand what's involved in running such an enterprise. But here's the thing... we don't want to restrict it entirely to this genera. We have a great facility. One that's still evolving and improving. But we can't seem to break out of this genre.
As a not-for-profit fraternal organization, we are not a traditional business. We are not really a bar or open 6-7 days a week or serving food or any of that. This is reflected in our drink prices which are kept well below what most bars charge. Since this is done for our membership that won't be changing. So we're not able to pay bands from our bar take. There isn't much of one to speak of and what we do make goes back into keeping the doors open. It was our original intent to make the place available to musicians and bands to "do their thing". We always let them have the option of doing a door charge for a show and that's fine. We want no part of that. Run the show however you think best. We have a great place for you to do that. And we've had some great local cover and tribute bands come and play. In fact, many are top-notch entertainment. But the crowd isn't there. Where are all the local people??? We've had an outstanding Pink Floyd tribute band, an amazing Soul -Motown band, a rocking Led Zeppelin tribute band. All well worth a 5$ or $10 door charge which will be made up in the savings on drink prices. Even the soda and water is cheap. So... Where are all the local people??? We have a show featuring a Metal band from California and people come from Fl, MD, TN, IL, VA and Canada to see them. Yes.. Calgary, Canada. People come from all over the country to the Glen Cove Moose Lodge to see a band from out-of-state, but a local band, a GREAT local band cant seem to draw 30 people.... So what is the real problem here? Is there a complete apathy on Long Island for live music?? Have most of the people who would appreciate these other genres gotten too old or mostly died off? Are they too poor or too cheap to pay $10?? Is Glen Cove so far across town that it's too much of a drive? I am at a complete loss as to what factors are at work here...
A simple attempt to bring local music by local musicians to the local community has been a miserable failure while becoming an international success...
What is going on??? Anyone?? Anyone? Bueller??
Recently (and by karmic intervention) I've had the opportunity to approach the experience from the venues perspective. In a sincere attempt to help a local fraternal organization of which I am a member, the Glen Cove Moose Lodge, I attempted to use the opportunity to make a plug for live music. It started as a small open mic night which would use the main hall of the lodge as a place local musicians can go for free and play and anyone can go and listen or join in. With $100 from my pocket, I purchased a small PA for this purpose. The word went out and interested musicians showed up. Quiet a few after a few months and we had to upgrade the PA. No problem there, it was worth the effort and working out. Once a week, whatever musicians we interested came down and either played solo for the crowd or joined in a larger jam. Unfortunately as the warmer weather approached people had other things to do and the City also hosted a free downtown concert series on the same night. They obtained fairly large name acts and drew a good crowd. There was no thought of competing with that. In fact, there was never a thought of competing at all. The entire exercise had been to help the lodge stay afloat while promoting music for both musicians and their audience. That was about to change.
As the fall off in attendance was felt, I used the wonders of modern technology to advertise the lodge facility more. A hall that could hold 100 people, a PA system, a full bar downstairs complete with a free pool table, dart board and shuffle board table all available to musicians and bands at no cost to do a show... what more could one ask for? I'll tell you... My advertising was noticed by some promoters of the metal / hard core genera. They inquired about doing shows. We set it up with them and its worked out wonderfully. In fact so much so, that we had to upgrade the PA system again. This time substantially. (They play loud!) So... with funds donated by a very generous member, we put in four large 3-Way JBL speaker cabinets powered by three separate power-amps with an active 3-Way crossover and EQ pre-amping them and a small mixing board. A separate monitor system with its own power-amp and 4 speakers we also added ...and while we were at it, we decided to add a small lighting system. What did we end up with? A real venue. It wasn't planned that way, it evolved that way. It dawned on us when one event drew over 200 people that we needed to be able to handle all this. With the upgrade to the PA and the lights, came the need to upgrade the way we were doing business. Business??? Yes.., it became a business. We had to have staff, clean up before and after every show, stock supplies, have security, ID people, purchase food, maintain the equipment and all the activities and costs that go with the territory. We ended up with a mid-sized venue. The very thing I had lamented on the loss of. So now I know first hand what's involved in running such an enterprise. But here's the thing... we don't want to restrict it entirely to this genera. We have a great facility. One that's still evolving and improving. But we can't seem to break out of this genre.
As a not-for-profit fraternal organization, we are not a traditional business. We are not really a bar or open 6-7 days a week or serving food or any of that. This is reflected in our drink prices which are kept well below what most bars charge. Since this is done for our membership that won't be changing. So we're not able to pay bands from our bar take. There isn't much of one to speak of and what we do make goes back into keeping the doors open. It was our original intent to make the place available to musicians and bands to "do their thing". We always let them have the option of doing a door charge for a show and that's fine. We want no part of that. Run the show however you think best. We have a great place for you to do that. And we've had some great local cover and tribute bands come and play. In fact, many are top-notch entertainment. But the crowd isn't there. Where are all the local people??? We've had an outstanding Pink Floyd tribute band, an amazing Soul -Motown band, a rocking Led Zeppelin tribute band. All well worth a 5$ or $10 door charge which will be made up in the savings on drink prices. Even the soda and water is cheap. So... Where are all the local people??? We have a show featuring a Metal band from California and people come from Fl, MD, TN, IL, VA and Canada to see them. Yes.. Calgary, Canada. People come from all over the country to the Glen Cove Moose Lodge to see a band from out-of-state, but a local band, a GREAT local band cant seem to draw 30 people.... So what is the real problem here? Is there a complete apathy on Long Island for live music?? Have most of the people who would appreciate these other genres gotten too old or mostly died off? Are they too poor or too cheap to pay $10?? Is Glen Cove so far across town that it's too much of a drive? I am at a complete loss as to what factors are at work here...
A simple attempt to bring local music by local musicians to the local community has been a miserable failure while becoming an international success...
What is going on??? Anyone?? Anyone? Bueller??
Sunday, September 23, 2012
The symphony we don't always hear
In a moment of retrospest.. how appropriate to this blog, I sat outside in the dark this September 23rd 2012, fall evening and listened to the noises. Crickets, cicadas tree frogs.. Decades of doing this and I still can't say which are which.... But since my early childhood, frequently lying in a tent at camp Wawokiye at the East end of Long Island, I listened to the same sounds. I remember my father telling me that you could guage the temperature by the frequency of a crickets chirp.. But what really struck me tonight, a day after Fall officially started was that, in the cosmic order, whether you believe in a great creator or a higher power or just a great cosmic accident that is based on unified physical laws, there is an interesting similarity to music that I noted this evening.
There is the larger picture that is dictated by the seasons, and also smaller but immediate weather changes that affect the overall ebb and flow of nature. Nature as a whole is predisposed to respond to it as an orchestra to a conductor. Fortisimo, allegro no troppo, etc... It all rises and drops in unison, but... there are those individual voices that stand out.. that break from the overall rhythm, that are working within the context of the whole yet just outside the typical flow... soloists improvising... making a special effort to be a seperate voice yet contribute to the overall theme... The crickets, cicadas, and frogs,.. the rustle of the trees in the wind.. an occasional dog barking...
I listened to the song of the night and could easily tell winter was approaching just as I could tell in the tent at camp, that the camp season was drawing to an end.. There is a shift from the easy, languid, carefree rhythm of summer, to a more desperate urgency, with a build to a crescendo that leaves us eventually in the quiet of a snow storm. That time when the world grows surrealistically quiet with the soft, dull roar of a world of white... Everything muffled,.. and nature takes an intermision...
Then spring.. and the piccolo's accompany the birds and the crickets until they are joined by the cicadas and tree frogs.. and lets not forget the thunder.. and it all builds again once more towards this glorious end called Fall.. but its just a little bit sad... because I know an end to this performance is near...
I can't wait for the next show....
WC 9-23-12
There is the larger picture that is dictated by the seasons, and also smaller but immediate weather changes that affect the overall ebb and flow of nature. Nature as a whole is predisposed to respond to it as an orchestra to a conductor. Fortisimo, allegro no troppo, etc... It all rises and drops in unison, but... there are those individual voices that stand out.. that break from the overall rhythm, that are working within the context of the whole yet just outside the typical flow... soloists improvising... making a special effort to be a seperate voice yet contribute to the overall theme... The crickets, cicadas, and frogs,.. the rustle of the trees in the wind.. an occasional dog barking...
I listened to the song of the night and could easily tell winter was approaching just as I could tell in the tent at camp, that the camp season was drawing to an end.. There is a shift from the easy, languid, carefree rhythm of summer, to a more desperate urgency, with a build to a crescendo that leaves us eventually in the quiet of a snow storm. That time when the world grows surrealistically quiet with the soft, dull roar of a world of white... Everything muffled,.. and nature takes an intermision...
Then spring.. and the piccolo's accompany the birds and the crickets until they are joined by the cicadas and tree frogs.. and lets not forget the thunder.. and it all builds again once more towards this glorious end called Fall.. but its just a little bit sad... because I know an end to this performance is near...
I can't wait for the next show....
WC 9-23-12
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
9-11 Reflections
Perhaps this would have been a more relevant post on the 10th anniversary of the attacks on 9-11-01, however, like many, the ten year anniversary was especially poignant and our minds were elsewhere.
Stepping outside this morning, it immediately struck me how the day was much like that fateful day eleven years ago. A cool September morning. Cloudless and warming into what should have been a perfect day.
It happened that on that day, I was to attend an Emergency Management training seminar being held at the Nassau County Police Academy, then situated on the grounds of the Nassau County Correctional Facility. Just a block or two away from the facility, the radio station I was listening to suddenly ceased broadcasting. Minutes later, as I pulled into a parking space and went to enter the facility, I saw people running out to their cars, checking pagers and talking on cell phones. I asked one of the individuals what was going on, and was told a plane hit the World Trade Center. Hurrying into the building, I quickly located the classroom I was supposed to be in and found a dozen people glued to a large screen TV watching the breaking news. There was a lot of speculation running around the room as we followed the event. It was, however, when the second plane hit the South tower that the room fell silent. There was no question in anyones mind. We'ld been attacked.
It was shortly there after when reports of an incident at the Pentagon and an additional missing plane started coming in, that I left the facility to get to work and try to ascertain what may be required of me in the hours to follow. I stopped to make one quick phone call to my girlfriend at the time who was a school teacher and had a son in a private school in Manhattan. She was not aware what was happening and when she learned of events proceeded to attempt to contact the school.
Upon my arrival at my job in Roslyn, the shock was apparent on everones face and the haunted silence I experienced at the academy as the south tower was hit was prevelant here too. I continued to monitor the news and took a call from my girlfriend who was frantic as she was unable to get a call through to her sons school. By sheer luck I was able to get through, ascertained what actions the school was undertaking and contacted her to relay the information. My next call was to the Captain of the Glen Cove Harbor Patrol. I was instructed to get into full uniform and report to the Glen Cove Fire House. We would be taking the high speed ferry out of Glen Cove into Manhattan to aid in the evacuation of lower Manhattan.
A quick run home, I suit up, report to the fire house command post and then a short ride to the ferry terminal. We left the dock for a tense and somber 40 minute ride to the South Street Seaport area.
As we cleared Randall's Island and entered the East River proper, we got our first glimpse of the devestation we were heading into. Both towers had collapsed by this time. Before us, rising above the skyline, was a tremendous plume of gray-black smoke unlike anything any of us could have imagined. As we got closer to lower Manhattan you could see that the streets, in fact, all of the Southern end of the city was engulfed in this cloud.
We received our orders on which pier to tie up to. As we exited the ferry, we entered the most surreal landscape I have ever known. Everything, every road, every sidewalk, every car, every building and every person was covered in layers of ash which continued to fall from the sky like some hellish snow and reduced visability to less than a block. We proceeded to load people into the ferry and assist other ferries, boats and emergency service workers at the piers.
Much of the remainder of the day is a blur. More of the same. Numerous trips back and forth getting people out of the city, all of who had the same shell shocked looks on their faces that would become the norm for the duration of the operation. Later we would come to learn that the emergency evacuation of lower Manhattan by water would be the largest boatlift in history.
In the following days we continued to ride the ferry on a daily basis as an armed law enforcement presence was required on all the ferries operating in the NY waterways. I worked the detail and followed the news closely til I could watch it no more. It soon became apparent that there would be no survivors recovered from the Trade Center site. We continued the security detail, and continued to try to put things in perspective every time we arrived in lower Manhattan and saw that cloud billowing out of the heart of the city. We couldn't put it into perspective. The City was changed forever, we were changed forever, the world was changed forever.
On the morning of September 17th 2001, just 6 days after the attack, Wall St. officially reopened. It would be our last tour of duty on this detail. As we got off the ferry that morning in lower Manhattan we were met at the pier by city workers who were handing out American flags.
On the mantle above the fireplace in my home, sit two american flags. The first and largest belonged to my father who proudly hung it outside on appropriate holidays. I still follow that practice. However, this morning, before hanging the larger one, I sat for awhile with the smaller one given to me by a city worker on September 17th 2001, and I remembered.
WC 9-11-11
Stepping outside this morning, it immediately struck me how the day was much like that fateful day eleven years ago. A cool September morning. Cloudless and warming into what should have been a perfect day.
It happened that on that day, I was to attend an Emergency Management training seminar being held at the Nassau County Police Academy, then situated on the grounds of the Nassau County Correctional Facility. Just a block or two away from the facility, the radio station I was listening to suddenly ceased broadcasting. Minutes later, as I pulled into a parking space and went to enter the facility, I saw people running out to their cars, checking pagers and talking on cell phones. I asked one of the individuals what was going on, and was told a plane hit the World Trade Center. Hurrying into the building, I quickly located the classroom I was supposed to be in and found a dozen people glued to a large screen TV watching the breaking news. There was a lot of speculation running around the room as we followed the event. It was, however, when the second plane hit the South tower that the room fell silent. There was no question in anyones mind. We'ld been attacked.
It was shortly there after when reports of an incident at the Pentagon and an additional missing plane started coming in, that I left the facility to get to work and try to ascertain what may be required of me in the hours to follow. I stopped to make one quick phone call to my girlfriend at the time who was a school teacher and had a son in a private school in Manhattan. She was not aware what was happening and when she learned of events proceeded to attempt to contact the school.
Upon my arrival at my job in Roslyn, the shock was apparent on everones face and the haunted silence I experienced at the academy as the south tower was hit was prevelant here too. I continued to monitor the news and took a call from my girlfriend who was frantic as she was unable to get a call through to her sons school. By sheer luck I was able to get through, ascertained what actions the school was undertaking and contacted her to relay the information. My next call was to the Captain of the Glen Cove Harbor Patrol. I was instructed to get into full uniform and report to the Glen Cove Fire House. We would be taking the high speed ferry out of Glen Cove into Manhattan to aid in the evacuation of lower Manhattan.
A quick run home, I suit up, report to the fire house command post and then a short ride to the ferry terminal. We left the dock for a tense and somber 40 minute ride to the South Street Seaport area.
As we cleared Randall's Island and entered the East River proper, we got our first glimpse of the devestation we were heading into. Both towers had collapsed by this time. Before us, rising above the skyline, was a tremendous plume of gray-black smoke unlike anything any of us could have imagined. As we got closer to lower Manhattan you could see that the streets, in fact, all of the Southern end of the city was engulfed in this cloud.
We received our orders on which pier to tie up to. As we exited the ferry, we entered the most surreal landscape I have ever known. Everything, every road, every sidewalk, every car, every building and every person was covered in layers of ash which continued to fall from the sky like some hellish snow and reduced visability to less than a block. We proceeded to load people into the ferry and assist other ferries, boats and emergency service workers at the piers.
Much of the remainder of the day is a blur. More of the same. Numerous trips back and forth getting people out of the city, all of who had the same shell shocked looks on their faces that would become the norm for the duration of the operation. Later we would come to learn that the emergency evacuation of lower Manhattan by water would be the largest boatlift in history.
In the following days we continued to ride the ferry on a daily basis as an armed law enforcement presence was required on all the ferries operating in the NY waterways. I worked the detail and followed the news closely til I could watch it no more. It soon became apparent that there would be no survivors recovered from the Trade Center site. We continued the security detail, and continued to try to put things in perspective every time we arrived in lower Manhattan and saw that cloud billowing out of the heart of the city. We couldn't put it into perspective. The City was changed forever, we were changed forever, the world was changed forever.
On the morning of September 17th 2001, just 6 days after the attack, Wall St. officially reopened. It would be our last tour of duty on this detail. As we got off the ferry that morning in lower Manhattan we were met at the pier by city workers who were handing out American flags.
On the mantle above the fireplace in my home, sit two american flags. The first and largest belonged to my father who proudly hung it outside on appropriate holidays. I still follow that practice. However, this morning, before hanging the larger one, I sat for awhile with the smaller one given to me by a city worker on September 17th 2001, and I remembered.
WC 9-11-11
Monday, August 1, 2011
Fading Lights
It's late at night as is common for me. Insomnia becomes a companion as I get older. The hours between midnight and 4:00 a.m. are no longer the hours of productive solitude they once were, but instead, a co-conspirator to haunt the aging recesses of my mind. As I walk aimlessly through the home I work for. The place I've strived my whole life to find and to call my own. The sanctuary I've craved my whole life to which I can run and hide and create..... is now becoming a place I go and mourn my formative years. A place where I watch the video in my head to remind me of the things I can no longer find the strength to achieve. Where I watch the knowledge and drive and vigor and ambition of my youth slowly fade beyond my grasp.
It's irony not lost; that having achieved a place physically where I can go to indulge my creative impulses, those impulses are attenuated by the loss of the very energies expended to arrive there.
I wander and stop to commune with my sole remaining housemates. My physical companions. My loyal friends who are concurrently also fading from this world. One from age, the likes of which I will never see. One from a body failing before it's time, which I can wholly relate to. Time is cruel. It takes your mind to a higher place just as your body can no longer accommodate the rise. Then it takes your mind far from what your body is still able to maintain.
My housemates in solitude are my two dogs. They have been a source of love and entertainment. My burglar alarms, my alarm clocks, my consigliaries, my alter egos, my therapists, my friends. I have found that their silent adoration, while misplaced at times, is still more worthy of my devotion than most people I know. Not to disparage the people I know. They are mostly all really good people. But when it comes down to the bare bones of it, people are still about themselves. Its not a fault, it's a necessity. We all have to live, survive, make it in this world. It's just that there is a loyalty there that humans just don't have. So, I return it. I will stay the course. I will stay by them as they have done so for me. Many people may not get that. That's OK. But I owe them at least that much. To be there for them til the end. For them it will come soon enough.... too soon..., well in it's time, as nature intends... I do my best in the mean time to make it as comfortable for them as possible... And when all is said and done, I can live with that. What comes after is the hard part... The empty halls and rooms.. The early morning wandering without a fuzzy face to scratch or paw to shake.. No one to come home to, and no reason to do so. Then I will be left alone only with the video in my head, and take that next step along the path that they have treked before me... Among all their other attributes, they don't let me forget... where we all end up, and how we should try to live our lives until then.
It's irony not lost; that having achieved a place physically where I can go to indulge my creative impulses, those impulses are attenuated by the loss of the very energies expended to arrive there.
I wander and stop to commune with my sole remaining housemates. My physical companions. My loyal friends who are concurrently also fading from this world. One from age, the likes of which I will never see. One from a body failing before it's time, which I can wholly relate to. Time is cruel. It takes your mind to a higher place just as your body can no longer accommodate the rise. Then it takes your mind far from what your body is still able to maintain.
My housemates in solitude are my two dogs. They have been a source of love and entertainment. My burglar alarms, my alarm clocks, my consigliaries, my alter egos, my therapists, my friends. I have found that their silent adoration, while misplaced at times, is still more worthy of my devotion than most people I know. Not to disparage the people I know. They are mostly all really good people. But when it comes down to the bare bones of it, people are still about themselves. Its not a fault, it's a necessity. We all have to live, survive, make it in this world. It's just that there is a loyalty there that humans just don't have. So, I return it. I will stay the course. I will stay by them as they have done so for me. Many people may not get that. That's OK. But I owe them at least that much. To be there for them til the end. For them it will come soon enough.... too soon..., well in it's time, as nature intends... I do my best in the mean time to make it as comfortable for them as possible... And when all is said and done, I can live with that. What comes after is the hard part... The empty halls and rooms.. The early morning wandering without a fuzzy face to scratch or paw to shake.. No one to come home to, and no reason to do so. Then I will be left alone only with the video in my head, and take that next step along the path that they have treked before me... Among all their other attributes, they don't let me forget... where we all end up, and how we should try to live our lives until then.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
The Long Island Music Scene
Depending on who you are, musician or fan, and depending on your taste in music, you may love or may hate the music scene on Long Island. When I was growing up, there were a limited number of ways to get your music fix. First there was AM, then FM radio, you could purchase your favorive songs as a 45rpm, or take a chance and buy the album, unless a friend had it and you knew you liked it. There was the occasional or weekly (pre-MTV) television program like Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, and then there were live bands. About the time I came of drinking age, well ok, a few years before that, there were a host of clubs and bars where you could go see a live band. There were cover bands, and original bands (tribute bands didn't exist yet either) and then there were the venues that hosted known or slightly known acts like Nassau Coliseum, Westbury Music Fair and My Fathers place. But the smaller places to go see a great cover band or original band were large by todays standards. Rumrunners, Rumbottoms, Speaks, and even a lot of the smaller local places all had stages. They attracted crowds who would stand sholder to sholder to see a good cover band.
That was rock (now classic rock) and as a fan, I would frequent many of these places. The bars geared them selves to attracting bands which would attract crowds which would spend money on drinks. Now, as a part time working musician, its hard to find such places.
A rise in the drinking age, the change in DUI laws, a change in the audience demographics, a change in the availability and sources of music in the digital era and changes in musical tastes have all created many changes in the music scene. And while pirated mp3's and a return to DJ's and current dance music all conspire to impact live music on Long Island, there is still an effort by many cities and towns to promote live music. There are street fairs, music festivals (though we've lost my beloved Riverhead Blues Fest) concerts in the parks and a host of other event featuring live music, but these are not enough to sustain upcoming and start-up bands and musicians. The competition for the better gigs is fierce. To play some places you actually have to pay the venue. It is discouraging at best. Many places that offer live music do so as an after thought. I am talking about the bar / restaurant that is more concerned with how many meals are getting sold. I have no problem with the fact that that's how they earn their living, but perhaps they should be booking a keyboardist / singer as opposed to a 5 piece band. But they do book bands, pay them as little as possible, expect the band to create their customer base for the night and would bump the band for a party of 10 in a heartbeat. If you do go on, you are shoved into a corner of the room thats too small for you to move, with one electric outlet and no ventilation. In addition to a loss of bars and clubs that are "music" oriented, there has also been a decline in the variety of music you can find. Small, dimly lit jazz clubs have disappeared. You can find the occasional "blues jam" happening, but if you want to play you need to be on good terms with the sponsoring band. Getting an actual gig for your own band can be a difficult and lengthy process. Getting paid, even more so.
Long Island has produced some amazing talent over the decades and still does, but these and other changes have made it more difficult for musicians and acts to network, play, get paid and improve the music scene by providing more options for different genres. Venues for young, new and up-and coming talent have either disappeared, made music a secondary or tertiary consideration in their business and in some cases expect the band to provide the customers for them if not actually have them pay to perform.
Unfortunately, this is not going to change as long as musicians and groups accept the working conditions and the venues don't see promoting live music as anything other than an additional item offered ala carte.
It would be nice if both the talent and the smaller venues could find a business model that serves both their needs while working to improve the live music scene and enhance the experience for fans of both. I believe that if this were obtainable, medium to larger sized venues might start to re-appear and follow suit.
That was rock (now classic rock) and as a fan, I would frequent many of these places. The bars geared them selves to attracting bands which would attract crowds which would spend money on drinks. Now, as a part time working musician, its hard to find such places.
A rise in the drinking age, the change in DUI laws, a change in the audience demographics, a change in the availability and sources of music in the digital era and changes in musical tastes have all created many changes in the music scene. And while pirated mp3's and a return to DJ's and current dance music all conspire to impact live music on Long Island, there is still an effort by many cities and towns to promote live music. There are street fairs, music festivals (though we've lost my beloved Riverhead Blues Fest) concerts in the parks and a host of other event featuring live music, but these are not enough to sustain upcoming and start-up bands and musicians. The competition for the better gigs is fierce. To play some places you actually have to pay the venue. It is discouraging at best. Many places that offer live music do so as an after thought. I am talking about the bar / restaurant that is more concerned with how many meals are getting sold. I have no problem with the fact that that's how they earn their living, but perhaps they should be booking a keyboardist / singer as opposed to a 5 piece band. But they do book bands, pay them as little as possible, expect the band to create their customer base for the night and would bump the band for a party of 10 in a heartbeat. If you do go on, you are shoved into a corner of the room thats too small for you to move, with one electric outlet and no ventilation. In addition to a loss of bars and clubs that are "music" oriented, there has also been a decline in the variety of music you can find. Small, dimly lit jazz clubs have disappeared. You can find the occasional "blues jam" happening, but if you want to play you need to be on good terms with the sponsoring band. Getting an actual gig for your own band can be a difficult and lengthy process. Getting paid, even more so.
Long Island has produced some amazing talent over the decades and still does, but these and other changes have made it more difficult for musicians and acts to network, play, get paid and improve the music scene by providing more options for different genres. Venues for young, new and up-and coming talent have either disappeared, made music a secondary or tertiary consideration in their business and in some cases expect the band to provide the customers for them if not actually have them pay to perform.
Unfortunately, this is not going to change as long as musicians and groups accept the working conditions and the venues don't see promoting live music as anything other than an additional item offered ala carte.
It would be nice if both the talent and the smaller venues could find a business model that serves both their needs while working to improve the live music scene and enhance the experience for fans of both. I believe that if this were obtainable, medium to larger sized venues might start to re-appear and follow suit.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Space, the final frontier; Is it lost to us now?
I happened into a brief conversation while stepping outside for a smoke while on break the other evening. It started as a comment someone made about smoking laws getting ridiculous, while we still have to breath billowing black clouds of god knows what, emanating from big trucks and such. This rapidly turned to a discussion of what we are doing to the planet environmentally. One individual pretty much closed the subject by stating that, regardless of what we do, when this planet has had enough of us, it will sweep mankind from its face in the blink of a cosmic eye. I don't think anyone can really argue that point, but it started me thinking about mankind, its future and the recent conclusion of the NASA Space Shuttle Program.
The first and foremost question in my mind is this; Is the extended survival of the human race even worth working towards? We wreak havoc where ever we set foot. We kill off our own kind as well as decimate other species. We destroy that which sustains us. We are greedy, and take, beyond that which the natural order dictates. So why not go about our business until some event causes mass extinction of our species? As with most things, there is another side to the coin. As a species we are unique to this planet, this solar system and though the debate is still open, possibly to the universe. We are capable of creating. Music, art, literature, architecture, many things of great beauty. We think, we question, we inquire and investigate, we experiment and hopefully we learn. So why can't we learn to preserve the good, and shun the bad, and look towards preserving our race beyond whatever natural or man made cataclysm will ultimately end our lease on earth.
Growing up with the Apollo moon landing, Star Trek, 2001 Space Odyssey and its sequel 2010, I've always had strong thoughts about the space program. All of them supportive and positive. While it may have started in a typically human fashion; "I'm gonna beat you there, then use it for military advantage", it also offered up a world ...um, excuse me.., a "universe" of other possibilities. The technologies that have arisen from the space program, the knowledge gained about everything from our own planet to the depths of the known universe, have far exceeded anything we thought was possible back when John F. Kennedy committed the U.S to beating the U.S.S.R. to the moon. I believe that reason alone is cause enough to invest in a strong space program, however, we do need to think larger and further ahead. If we wish preserve our species, we need to think outside the confines of earth orbit, the moon and a "local" space station. We need to set our sites and resources on a plan that will enable us to explore well beyond our solar system. I'm talking manned exploration. Using available technology or even that which could be developed in the near future, such exploration could very well mean a one-way trip for the individuals venturing out. It seems hard to imagine a group of people committing themselves to a voyage to which they would leave everything they know and love behind, set out on a trip knowing it is filled with hazards, uncertainty and possible death, with a very real likely hood that they will never return. Hard to imagine until one consider the thousands of brave individuals that go off to war every day. Or the explorers that searched for the "new world" or the North West passage, or traveled West across the U.S. or climbed Mt Everest or any other great adventurers history has given us. It is part of the special make up of our species to search out new places at great personal peril. Those that have done so in the past have advanced us as a race. As will those that do so in the future. Its not a question of whether we are able to find people willing to try. It's a question of will we support their effort with all the science, intellect, creativity, ingenuity and resources available to do so? Will we do it to preserve our species and all it's greatness for future generations? To further our knowledge of our world and of the universe and maybe, just maybe, some day find there are others out there with which to share that knowledge. There is so much still that we do not know. To stop seeking that knowledge will ultimately doom us to the fate of the dinosaurs.
The first and foremost question in my mind is this; Is the extended survival of the human race even worth working towards? We wreak havoc where ever we set foot. We kill off our own kind as well as decimate other species. We destroy that which sustains us. We are greedy, and take, beyond that which the natural order dictates. So why not go about our business until some event causes mass extinction of our species? As with most things, there is another side to the coin. As a species we are unique to this planet, this solar system and though the debate is still open, possibly to the universe. We are capable of creating. Music, art, literature, architecture, many things of great beauty. We think, we question, we inquire and investigate, we experiment and hopefully we learn. So why can't we learn to preserve the good, and shun the bad, and look towards preserving our race beyond whatever natural or man made cataclysm will ultimately end our lease on earth.
Growing up with the Apollo moon landing, Star Trek, 2001 Space Odyssey and its sequel 2010, I've always had strong thoughts about the space program. All of them supportive and positive. While it may have started in a typically human fashion; "I'm gonna beat you there, then use it for military advantage", it also offered up a world ...um, excuse me.., a "universe" of other possibilities. The technologies that have arisen from the space program, the knowledge gained about everything from our own planet to the depths of the known universe, have far exceeded anything we thought was possible back when John F. Kennedy committed the U.S to beating the U.S.S.R. to the moon. I believe that reason alone is cause enough to invest in a strong space program, however, we do need to think larger and further ahead. If we wish preserve our species, we need to think outside the confines of earth orbit, the moon and a "local" space station. We need to set our sites and resources on a plan that will enable us to explore well beyond our solar system. I'm talking manned exploration. Using available technology or even that which could be developed in the near future, such exploration could very well mean a one-way trip for the individuals venturing out. It seems hard to imagine a group of people committing themselves to a voyage to which they would leave everything they know and love behind, set out on a trip knowing it is filled with hazards, uncertainty and possible death, with a very real likely hood that they will never return. Hard to imagine until one consider the thousands of brave individuals that go off to war every day. Or the explorers that searched for the "new world" or the North West passage, or traveled West across the U.S. or climbed Mt Everest or any other great adventurers history has given us. It is part of the special make up of our species to search out new places at great personal peril. Those that have done so in the past have advanced us as a race. As will those that do so in the future. Its not a question of whether we are able to find people willing to try. It's a question of will we support their effort with all the science, intellect, creativity, ingenuity and resources available to do so? Will we do it to preserve our species and all it's greatness for future generations? To further our knowledge of our world and of the universe and maybe, just maybe, some day find there are others out there with which to share that knowledge. There is so much still that we do not know. To stop seeking that knowledge will ultimately doom us to the fate of the dinosaurs.
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