This has been me for the last 2 1/2 weeks or so: working at home in my pajamas. Quite a deal. It is quite likely that by the end of the week, i will return to the ranks of the "not currently employed", which will probably run thru February, and i can once again turn my attention to ... NOTHING! YES! There are island getaways to schedule, unemployment checks to collect, and possible rock tours to plan for, but mostly i'll be waking up at noon, drinking coffee and listening to records in these very same pajamas.

(re-enactment)

The highlight thusfar of this very young year has to be the very last Candy Darlings show, an evening we will all be hard-pressed to top. The GIRAFFES, GIRL HARBOR and the BROUGHT LOW each had terrific nights in the set-up spots, but the night truly belonged to the Darlins. The fans, and there were quite a few, flipped out. Me, roomie Jeff, and Johnny and Maze from Dopamine delighted in giving bassist Ben grief the whole show. Jeff unsuccessfully tried to pull down his (Ben's) pants at one point. I raised my warm, flat scotch and soda up to Ben while he was playing and he sucked down a big gulp thru the straw, then spit it all over the crowd. Rock! We grabbed the mics and sang back-ups to "Never Had a Good Time," Mishka (of Mishka Shubaly fame) and Damien jumped on stage, band members fell over routinely, and Robin didn’t even cry afterward. It was a blast. They will be missed. A tip of the lens once again to the mighty Martin Nienstedt, the city's great unknown photographer.

Incidentally, the purple lights around the speakers? My idea, thank you very much!

Photos of rock:

Damien (lower l.) encourages all the young men of Brooklyn to rock.

James (r.) is rumored to have been
wearing that same sweater for 2 straight weeks.

Our hero solemnly plays something in 'G'
and sweats profusely in the polyester shirt
he inherited from Zachary Darling.

Yes, the weirdest part of the evening was these two hesher (sp?) guys (the guy in the hat and the guy in the white t-shirt) that no one seemed to know, but they were there all night, doing goofy stoner-guy dances and generally getting really into it. God bless 'em, i say. It reminds me of my days in Bad Friday, the dirthead band i was in 12 years ago. In case you were wondering, the guy in the blue shirt is the decidedly non-hesher Steven Matrick of Palisades Ave., Union City, NJ.

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The following day, i took this picture of a squirrel in Union Square ...

Then attended the Nets/Wizards game in E. Rutherford, NJ with Jersey City's own Kevin Dailey. Because MICHAEL JORDAN! was playing, the game was sold out and we had to scalp tickets, but we did eventually get in for the start of the 2nd quarter, which saw the Nets with a 43-18 lead. It was such a blowout, MICHAEL JORDAN! didn't even play in the second half. Kev and i snuck down to about 6 rows up, midcourt, for the 4th quarter, and Kev was being loud and boisterous and making the few fans that were left laugh hysterically. Great fun! I didn't bring my camera in for some reason (i guess i knew there wouldn't be any squirrels there), and i tried to find a decent picture of Yinka Dare or Rick Mahorn (the later years) on the "Internet" to help capture the experience of Nets basketball, but the best i could come up with is an e-bay auction for a signed Johnny Newman shoe (which no one ended up buying, not even for $9.99).

Box score

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Late one nite/early one morning, Jens was at his all-nite bodega buying orange juice. A disheveled "local" walked into the store carrying a plastic bag full of cans.

"Get a job" said the Iranian man behind the counter, halfway smiling.

"I'm on vacation" said the bum.

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