the Day After Thanksgiving

The day after Thanksgiving, now called "Black Friday," is one of America's half holidays. Some people get it off, some people don't get it off. The schools are off, some, but not all, businesses are off. Retail is open and most stores, at least the places I went to today, were extremely busy. The mall was jammed with people. Not just with lookey loos either, there were long lines to buy things at J.C. Penneys. J.C. Penneys! I thought it had died!

At the mall, I bought a couple of calendars, an easy holiday gift for people who are hard to buy for. And I got the second one for half price. The Chinese food was good and luckily, I found the last empty table in the food court.

I have many memories of this day. It was the day my mother took my brother and me to Radio City Music Hall on a bus where we saw a movie and the Rockettes Christmas Show. At my first job in a library I was put on the periodical desk where I was extremely busy pulling magazines. This day used to be very busy one in public libraries. The kids, home from university, would gather there and in the stores downtown and regale each other with college stories.

For families, the day after Thanksgiving can be a disjointed day. The kids are off, Daddy is off, but Mommy can be chained to her desk at the office.

In Denver I worked in an office where the fathers all came around on this day to collect Mommy's paycheck and the family had a quick lunch together in the cafeteria. I was entrusted with writing a column for the Denver branch in the house organ, Title Data Deeds I wrote in my little column how nice it was to meet all the fathers and children on the day after Thanksgiving. Quietly the next year the staff got that day off. I always attributed this change in the schedule to my witticism.

Editor's note: I never understood why libraries are now closed on this day.

Oh to have children

The other day I had a morning doctor appointment and I had to use the ice scraper to get my windshield clean. "Oh", I said, "To have a daughter. She would pick me up at home and whisk me to the doctor's and sit dutifully with me at the office. She would impress the other patients with her daughterly helpfulness. Last summer I looked out on my backyard and said, "Oh to have a son to mow the lawn".

As I stand in the kitchen cutting onions and peppers I say, "Oh I wish I had a daughter. She would have me over for dinner and fill my refigerator with leftovers for the next week." As I check the air in my tires I say "Oh, to have a son to do this for me!"

I talked to someone who has children. She hears, "Oh Mom can you help me with the rent? The dentist bill was higher than I thought." From her son she hears, "Oh Mom, Little Mary has her heart set on dancing lessons and could you help us out a little with this one? You'll be invited to her recitals."

I asked my friend if they helped with the lawn and the car. She asked me on what planet did I live on.

This morning I was woken up by the neighbor's barking Fox terrier. Oh to have a dog!

The Beatles and the Rolling Stones are back

I see that Paul is making more money. Calling back George and John from the dead to add to the discography Okay, the track isn’t bad by I suspect the two of them would not be happy.

The Stones have really gone hog wild on promoting their new album. It’s so weird to see them all over the tv. And they’re so nice! Personally, I like the old image of them pissing in gas stations and getting arrested. Even in the 70s there was a black curtain over their personal lives. Now Keith sounds like a retired fireman.

Have only heard album in bits and pieces. Sounds okay. Nice to have Bill Wyman’s bass adding to the band. Thought the gospel thing with Lady Gaga is nice. At what you think is the end you get a “let’s just let the tape stay on” three minutes of coda. Picture is of the Stones new drummer, Steve Jordan. He was on David Letterman and SNL. Who knew?

Of smoke detectors, crickets, and fire codes

 Last night I heard a beeping noise in my condo. It sounded like a smoke detector needing a battery but I was certain it wasn't since my smoke detector was now wired to the electricity and it was not beeping. I went to the source of the noise and decided I must have a cricket. I had a cricket in my place years ago so I sprayed my home office with roach spray and assumed by the morning I would have a dead, but quiet, cricket. 

The following morning I heard the beeping sound again. I did a closer inspection of my home office and discovered an old smoke detector on a shelf that was making all of the noise. I had a spare battery and I installed it and it should be quiet again for another year.

A year ago I got a notice that I was due for an inspection from a representative of the state to test my smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. I have received these visitations in the past and the man would push the buttons on the things, they would beep loudly, and I would be home free for another five years.

This time, the man informed me that I was not in compliance since battery operated smoke detectors were no longer permissible in condos in New Jersey. They had to be hard wired to the electricity. Turns out there was wiring right above the smoke detector, but previous tenants had taken the easy way out and just put a battery-operated smoke detector in its place. 

I went to Home Depot and bought a wired smoke detector. Coming into my place with a package containing my new smoke detector the inspector took pity on me and helped set up my new smoke detector. I put the old one on a shelf in my home office but kept the battery in. I completely forgot that it was there until it started beeping. I need to air my home office now because it smells like insect repellant. 

Guy Fawkes Day

I just came back from a Day of the Dead celebration in Princeton. Before that there was Halloween. Fun in their own way, After looking at a couple You Tube videos I have decided that I would like to attend a celebration of Guy Fawke Day. November 5. 

Apparently in small towns throughout Britain people march through the streets with lit broomsticks. There is a huge bonfire and revelry. I suspect a bit of alcohol consumption also. Perhaps in a British pub in New York there might be some commemorative? 

Thoughts on David Byrne

The Talking Heads and David Byrne have been getting a lot of media attention lately, inspiring me to listen to all my recordings and to recap my own recollections of the band and band leader. I first heard of the Talking Heads when I was living in Denver. Saturday nights on KGNU Boulder there was a series on the history of punk rock and new wave music. There I learned about Pere Ubu, Devo, the Ramones, and Talking Heads. There was also a record store I went to, Wax Trax, where you could listen to and buy singles by various new wave type artists. 

The Talking Heads evolved into incorporating a funky world music sound, influenced by Brian Eno.  It was when I saw the MTV video of Once in a Lifetime that I was first impressed by the band. Over the years I bought LPs Fear of Music, Little Creatures and at some point bought a bootleg of a live 1977 performance, In the mid-nineties I went to a party and Stop Making Sense was playing on the tv, I guess from a DVD. If the party got dull you could walk into the Talking Heads Room and then gravitate back to the kitchen for beer and potato chips. 

My next exposure to David Byrne was in 2008 when I saw the exhibit Playing the Building in New York. I bought a poster then but I can't find it. It was sort of fun. There was a piano and everyone, including myself, got to play a few notes. After Covid, I saw American Utopia on Broadway and it was a great show. 

I also bought the cd's Rei Momo and I found Feelings in a bargain bin somewhere. I also recently discovered in my collection a home made CD of Grown Backwards that I probably got as a gift. Not bad. One Christmas I got the Here Lies Love box set. It came with two cd's, one DVD and a book. It featured Florence (without the Machine), Steve Earle, Cyndi Lauper and lots of others. Now Here Lies Love is on Broadway. This project has always been a mystery to me. I don't care for the songs, except for the title number, and I never understood why anyone would care about Imelda Marcos. Old news.

I suppose the Latin influenced Rei Mono is my favorite David Byrne credited record. I also got the soundtrack of Stop Making Sense. Okay but the songs sound a lot like the studio recordings. At some point I acquired a Tom Tom Club record. The Tom Tom Club was hip for a brief period. 

Now the critics are raving about the re mastering of the Stop Making Sense movie. It might be fun to see it in a theatre but I'm too lazy to go the places where it is showing. He was on Colbert recently and taught the tv host how to dance. For an autistic guy he seems to have developed his public social skills. He didn't mention the Stop Making Sence movie. Yesterday I turned on the tv and there was the entire Talking Heads also on Colbert. They didn't play although they were coerced to attempt it. Maybe it was because they haven't played together in eons and didn't want to embarrass themselves. Instead, they plugged the Stop Making Sense movie. Yesterday I noticed he plays the doctor in season two of Amy Schumer's Hulu show.  

I almost forgot the book.  Talking Heads by David Gans is a nice history and discography of the band as of 1985. You can get it used on Amazon. I probably bought it in a used bookstore. So those are my thoughts on David Byrne.

Dress codes

 

After the recent story on the dress code in the Senate. John Fetterman is again in the news. You may remember when I predicted he would eventually become our president. I am starting to see him as more as the eccentric in the Senate rather than presidential timber. I can remember saying Gary Hart was presidential timber back in the day. 

Perhaps the Senate is not yet ready for hoodies  after all. Reminds me of when they instituted a dress code at the government office I worked in. For years people came to work in jeans, boat pants, halter dresses and the like. Then when a Republican entered the governorship, we were given a dress code. no more halters, blood stained chinos, flip flops, or beach ware. We were to dress in business attire. The first week I noticed that the women wore old dresses they must have borrowed from their grandmothers. After a few weeks, people started to buy new clothes in keeping with the spirit of things. We were allowed to revert to our old ways on "casual Fridays". The joke was that "casual Fridays" had never existed before the dress code.