Globex Corporation Newsletter

I sat down here and I swear I had something to write about, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was now. Maybe I'll just talk about my weekend.

Saturday was OK. A little snafu with my phone number meant that Mike, Joe and I each drove seperately to the Hot Springs gig. With the price of gasoline right now that probably wasn't the smartest way of doing things, but we're Americans, damn it, and we have rights. Like rights to our cars. It's in the constitution, people! OK, it isn't, but it should be. Maybe our national symbol shouldn't be the bald eagle, but the SUV. Nothing would represent the excesses of our society better, and we won't stop driving them even though we need to take out a loan to fill them with gas.

But enough ranting (even if it is what I do best). The Flatiron Coffee Bar is a really cool venue, and the weather was nice enough for us to play outdoors. It was really cool to play outdoors and we apparently sounded pretty good to the audience even though the stage set up made it difficult to hear ourselves. The other strange thing about the set up was that the audience tended to be a long way from us. It made subtle interaction tough, and after the sun went down, it was impossible for us to see the audience from the stage.

A little bit of SD trivia, President Bush's head of security is a Hot Springs native. He was in attendence at the show. Mike's politics tend toward the left, and one of his songs in particular has a line that isn't flattering to the sitting President. It was noticed by the head of security. I'm sure Mike now has a file in Washington. Welcome to the club, Joe was saying that as an Ordinance Disposal Specialist that he automatically has an FBI file, and with the US Senate Sergeant at Arms a frequent visitor to BOJ News Service, I'm sure I have one as well.

Once again, the pay at the Flatiron wasn't the best and tips were paltry at best, but we did get dinner out of the deal (.....mmm.... Buffalo Burger, baked beans, chips and a lemonade....), and a stay in a guest suite. This is not a complaint, but the suite we had last time we stayed at the Flatiron was much cooler than this time. The suite we had last time was a two bedroom with a huge living room. This time it was a one bedroom and I ended up on a cot in the living room. But, I woke up without any back pain, so it wasn't any hardship for me. Sleeping three people in that suite could have been a little more difficult, but luckily for him, Joe found somewhere else in Hot Springs to sleep......

We went to see a local band play at a bar down the street after our performance. I thought they were pretty good, a three piece that played your standard bar band cover tunes along with a few pretty good originals. It was when they played John Coltrane's Syeeda's Song Flute that I was really impressed. I had never heard a rock and roll type band cover 'Trane before and it was really cool. It reminded me of last time Mike and I played in Hot Springs, me taking a leisurely drive back to RC through Wind Cave National Park, listening to Coltrane on the stereo. It was circular, now my experiences with Hot Springs will all involve Coltrane in some way.

I took another leisurely drive home on Sunday morning after a pretty intense morning teaching Gloria a few things on Photoshop. She has a really cool art idea for a show, something that's pretty involved Photoshop-wise. It seemed simple to me, but upon jumping into it, it turned out to be be pretty complicated. I left a little flustered, but with a couple of idea of how to get to what she's trying to do. I'll jump into it again after I'm through with this post.

Had a waffle dinner out at the parents' house Sunday evening. My waffle iron is aparently useless, but with three irons running we were able to get everybody fed. The chokecherry syrup was excellent and was plenty of pay off for a day spent picking a few weeks ago. TSA joined us for dinner and we got in a little practice before heading out for Cheers.

There was a decent amount of musicians and 'musicians' last night, Brian being the first thrown to the wolves. Aparently TSA and I sold him out somehow, causing him to be first. He exacted his revenge, though by making us go second. Brian's set was really cool, and Staring at the Ceiling is truely a great tune. It being a well written tune is one thing, but it has a quality to it that makes you want to sing along, and last night people (not just me) were. Conservative Man has a similar thing, but with a catchy hook to boot. He admitted later that he actually wanted another line in the verse, but couldn't think of one and started singing "Doo-doo-doo-doo" etc., (typing does it absolutely no justice - it's really cool if you hear it) instead. An accidental hook? Could anything be any cooler?

I think Andy and I were calling ourselves "454198" last night because we figured it was a ticket number that nobody would have, but maybe they'd cheer when it was said anyway. Since Brian made us go second, we made him pick the first song. He chose Two Condoms which was quite alright with me. Actually, I'm a little more comfortable with him requesting it than with a 16 year old girl requesting it, which is what happened on Wednesday. Yikes! Anyway, we followed that up with Vibrator Dpendent, Wyle E. Coyote Blues and Mojo/Magic Bus.

Heard some cool rumors about Willy Grigg last night from none other than Willy Grigg. Spreading rumors about yourself, that's almost as cool as wrting an accidntal hook. At some point I'll embelish some of the rumors about Willy, but I have to figure out the proper forum to do so. Also I have to make them outlandish enough to top the stuff that's already out there. I've got my work cut out for me....

BOJ