I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: RHEOSTATICS-Hamilton ON (February 24 2001).

This is a show that there is no real information about.  In fact, I have to wonder if it is actually from the date that it says because during the set someone (very casually, I think) mentions that their album came out today (it was released on October 23, 2001).  It is also really short (just over an hour) and is clearly not the entire show.  I assume the first half was lost, but it’s hard to know.

Despite the brevity, there is a great sound on the disc.  The first two songs sound amazing.  And “Stolen Car” is scorchingly good.

There’s a funny discussion about the washroom, which turns into a joke that the “washroom rocks.”  And there’s some wonderfully funny “ads” for Snapple, Marlboro “the smoke that hurts,” and even a Gibson “the guitar for depressed musicians.”  “Feed Yourself” is particularly long with lots of chatter in the middle and they joke about Martin playing with “millennium technology,” some gadget that makes his guitar sound different.

“Four Little Songs” has a very funny refrain about Martin’s “device” which they now call the robot dog–there’s even a silly riff at the end.

It’s a great show, even if it is brief and it’s a good collection of older songs (which is weird if their new album came out that day).

[READ: April 21, 2015] “Major Maybe”

This was the second short and breezy story I read this week, which was kind of fun.

This story is so simple, it’s even told quickly, as if the narrator just had to get it out.

“Major Maybe” is the name of a dog in her neighborhood.  She and her roommate Eagle Soars (his real name) are living in Chelsea in New York.  He is a wanna be actor and she helps him with his lines.

One day they were rehearsing in their usual spot in front of their building.  Their building was quite nice, the first floor resident was a therapist and he decked out the front stoop very nicely with flowers and chairs.  As they were rehearsing the red-haried homeless lady came by.  She was known to have good days and bad days  Today was a bad day.

She accused Major Maybe (who name has a funny origin) of being the devil.  The Major’s owner took exception to this, and when the homeless lady charged at the dog, the man and dog moved aside so that she wound up running into the street and nearly getting hit by a car.

This was a lot of excitement for their street.  In the age before cell phones, it took awhile for the police to arrive, but they did. And they caused their own commotion.

This whole scene interrupted everything so much that she and her roommate stopped rehearsing.  They went inside and, for the first and only time, had sex.

This is all told in a nostalgic look back on a time in New York City in the 80s.   She says that most of the people they knew then have moved to Portland, Maine.  And that Soars has gotten married and so has she.

The final scene is an interesting one that sums up nicely the feeling of moving on.

Not much to it, but a nice snapshot of a scene.