A Quiet Day

Not much in the mood to write much of anything – 9/11 and all that has me in a very quiet mood. Perhaps even pensive. 9/11 was the start of a roller coaster series of events in my own life (Mom dying later that year, moving to Astoria, getting girlfriend, getting laid off, getting new job breaking up with girlfriend, getting laid off again, getting new job again, my dad’s health problems, starting up band) that hasn’t quite finished its run yet soo I don’t feel able to comment on it much.

I was at work near where the Staten Island Ferry – 125 Broad Street. Due to the sight angles and such – we couldn’t see the towers from the court yard where we were standing when our building was evacuated. What we did see was a 20 story wall of smoke heading towards us coming down the street like a tidal wave when the towers fell. And then we were covered in ash and confusion.

The rest is kind of numb. I walked north with my co-workers – one of them Gary had had some training with the scouts of all people and made us buddy up and keep together. Bless him for that. I sure as hell didn’t know what to do – other than head north and get home somehow.

That’s about it. Nothing too different from anybody else – just a memory of confusion and dust and wanting a cigarette for the first time in years.

Other things:

Over the weekend I saw a VH1 show called “When Metal Ruled the World” the story of the time when the big haired party bands like Poison and Motley Crew from LA and oh yes Def Leopard strode the earth like gods. Yes back when music just sucked beyond human comprehension – a combination of self indulgence, selling out and awful songs that became a perfect black hole of suck.

It was an avalanche of rotten and yet successful bands – each one had two hits – the hard rockin’ party hit and then the power ballad.

The hard rockin’ hit was bad enough but dear lord the power ballads. Ugh. Very little drives me closer to suicide than a power ballad – even now when flipping through the channels and I come on some feather haired guy with mascara sitting on a stool strumming an acoustic guitar. You see the rest of band sitting around him in a circle nodding ‘casue this song is really deep, one of them will take a small sip from a bottle of jack’s (have to keep the party image) Watching I feel my will to live slipping away. Better oblivion than this.

I noted with amusement that a lot of them didn’t think Spinal Tap was funny – which proves – a) they were idiots and b) they were really that self absorbed. And when Nirvana came out with Smells like Teen Spirit (which was the first new song in years that I liked) the whole scene died a painful death.

They have tried to get a hair metal revival going from time to time but yah know – some things never come back – let’s hope this is one.

In the end the hair bands were not about music – they were about using music to get cash booze and babes – crass, tasteless, shallow, phony and completely forgettable.

Just like the 80’s.