Tag: nyc

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Photo of several people, including David Johansen on the left, at the 2005 Mermaid Parade in Coney Island. One person is holding a toy, devil's pitchfork aloft, another is holding a large cardboard cutout of a key with the words "Coney Island" written on it.
David Johansen (left) as Mermaid King 2005

David Johansen died on Friday. There are much better pictures of Mr. Johansen out there, but I only have this one that I took. He was the Mermaid King at the 2005 Mermaid Parade. I first knew Johansen as Buster Poindexter, likely from his stint on SNL. It would be a couple more years before I was introduced to the New York Dolls. Rest in peace, David.

Something else died on Friday. Our President and Vice President berated an ally in full display of the media for not saying thank you. What a couple of assholes. Zelenskyy remained composed, which just made them all the more upset. One of the members of the White House’s hand-picked press pool joined in by mockingly questioning the Ukrainian President’s attire. It was a sorry display. At least everyone knows where this administration stands now, if they didn’t already. Timothy Snyder’s post, The War Trump Chooses, is a good analysis of this.

We didn’t really have quorum for our Jamulus jam this Friday without a singer, but we forged ahead anyway. Perhaps it goes without saying, but not having vocals makes it much harder to remember where the changes are. It was a good time nonetheless. I think I’m learning to project more when I sing, because my wife shut the door to “the studio” during this session. This also says a lot about the quality of my singing.

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The Rheingold beer sign retrofit I started last week (or three years ago, depending on when you start the clock) is finished. I ended up going with the simplest solution. I’ve been enjoying the warm glow of the sign–it really pulls the room together now.

Congestion pricing lasted about a month longer than I thought it would. This week Trump declared it dead and crowned himself in the process. What an asshole. Despite his declaration, they are still collecting the fees and the MTA is suing. I hope they can hold onto it as it seems to have the intended effect and, as expected, people are warming up to it.

We had a good Jamulus jam this week, but the after party was plagued with technical difficulties. We got through it though. I’m happy we have these regular jam sessions since it’s the only time I’ve been picking up the bass. That changes this week, I’m going to start my practice regimen again and also work on improving one of our songs.

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Was bit under the weather this week, so I spent most of it working at home. Feeling better now and looking forward to going back to the office next week. Yes, I’m one of the weird ones that prefer not to work at home.

This week’s project was repairing the old Rheingold beer sign I’ve had on the shelf for a while. I though I was successful, but I wasn’t. More on this post: A beer light to guide us

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Screenshot of part of an email sent from NYC Mayor Eric Adams. There is a blue, thought bubble at the top with the text "HEAR FROM ERIC". Below that is the text from the begining of the email: "Good morning New Yorkers, As you may have heard, the U.S. Department of Justice directed that the case against me be dismissed. I addressed New Yorkers on Tuesday about our path forward and the future New Yorkers are relying on us to deliver that will make New York City the best place to raise a family."

This is the email many New Yorkers received from Mayor Eric Adams this morning. The subject was the same as this post: “Time to move forward”. The email, by the way, goes on to list some of the ways he’s continue to make the city safer and more affordable.

I agree, it’s time to move forward: Adams should resign immediately.

At the time of writing this post, every person the Department of Justice has ordered to dismiss the charges has responded by submitting their resignation. So, he still has charges pending. Although, that will change very soon. It’s only a matter of time before the DOJ finds some toady to do the their dirty work so Trump can have someone who owes him in City Hall.

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KEXP consistently rocks. Two items of note this week: Black History is Now on Monday 3FEB. I wasn’t able to listen to all of it, but I caught DJ Reverend Dollars set–epic. What a great musical history lesson in black dance music. Then, Friday was International Clash Day. I planned to listen, but totally forgot about it on Friday. Thankfully, they have a streaming archive, so I was able to listen to it on Saturday. You can do the same; hurry up, they only archive for two weeks!

We had a remarkably good jam on Friday, especially since none of us have been picking up our instruments during the week. I need to change that, my meager bass skills are starting atrophy.

Supreme Bowl III was on Saturday, and delicious as always. We had way too much food though, so we’ll be working through the leftovers for a bit.

Links

There are a few links mixed in this week. I said I was going to lay off the political links after the election, but I just can’t help myself.