Crazy stuff, this past week. It turned out that my mom suffered a heart-attack during/after the house fire that gutted my childhood home. I visited her in the hospital in Medford last week and then had her and Ron over for a couple of days so they could recuperate in a comfy home environment. Mom seems better now and is in the process of setting up a temporary home while they get their old homestead rebuilt. Phew! Family stuff is exhausting. Glad that things are not worse.
Work stress kills me. I ended up firing someone at the job yesterday - it really sucked, because I actually liked the guy, but there were enough reasons to fire him. I hate being a hired dick sometimes.
Otherwise, things are going great. Chanteuse is playing in the basement right now, sounding mysterious and medieval. DJ Sleeve brought me over a stack of really cool records - Led Zeppelin III, a couple Eno albums, Pink Floyd Obscured by Clouds, Miles Davis In a silent way and Creedence Clearwater Revival, the one with down on the corner on it. Pretty damn cool. I love albums.
Okay, now I'm gone for coffee.
lates,
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Monday, February 20, 2006
I got the call on Friday from my sister. My mom's house in Gasquet, California, went up in flames at 3 am on Thrusday, burning 1/2 the house. My mom and her boyfriend made it out okay but lost several pets - 7 cats, 2 dogs. Mom also spent three days in the hospital from smoke inhalation + possibly a minor heart attack. This is the latest in a long line of home-related dramas that my mom has been going through - too many and too personal to list here. I'm just glad she made it out alive. At least the place was insured, so she can rebuild, but in the meantime I think she and Ron are living in a motel with their remaining dogs. I plan to go down next weekend and see what help I can offer.
The house I grew up in. the "Gasquet House" as we call it in my family, was a unique place. Built sometime in the early 1900's, it was originally the schoolhouse in Gasquet until the 1960's, when Mountain School was built. (Gasquet, btw, is a tiny town in the redwoods of very-northern California, population 400 or so, and Mountain School is the school I attended sporadically from K-8th grades). Our house was huge, one of the biggest in town. The Cole family moved into the old schoolhouse in late 1975, shortly after my dad died, and I have many fond memories of the years that my family lived there - my older brothers fighting and knocking holes in each other's doors; brother Monty banging out Scott Joplin songs on the piano in his room; a dixieland jazz band performing in our living room in 1976; sister Neva and I almost burning the house down with an oil lamp when she was 10 and I was 5; and of course, many, many parties hosted by brother Mike and his derelict high school buddies. One of the coolest features of the Gasquet House was a recreation room built around a huge fir tree - I don't know how tall, but probably 6 feet in diameter. Apparently, the tree held up this back room during the fire, while the other back rooms were gutted and nearly collapsed.
I wish I had some digitized pictures of the old house to post, but I don't.
Alas, all things must pass.
The house I grew up in. the "Gasquet House" as we call it in my family, was a unique place. Built sometime in the early 1900's, it was originally the schoolhouse in Gasquet until the 1960's, when Mountain School was built. (Gasquet, btw, is a tiny town in the redwoods of very-northern California, population 400 or so, and Mountain School is the school I attended sporadically from K-8th grades). Our house was huge, one of the biggest in town. The Cole family moved into the old schoolhouse in late 1975, shortly after my dad died, and I have many fond memories of the years that my family lived there - my older brothers fighting and knocking holes in each other's doors; brother Monty banging out Scott Joplin songs on the piano in his room; a dixieland jazz band performing in our living room in 1976; sister Neva and I almost burning the house down with an oil lamp when she was 10 and I was 5; and of course, many, many parties hosted by brother Mike and his derelict high school buddies. One of the coolest features of the Gasquet House was a recreation room built around a huge fir tree - I don't know how tall, but probably 6 feet in diameter. Apparently, the tree held up this back room during the fire, while the other back rooms were gutted and nearly collapsed.
I wish I had some digitized pictures of the old house to post, but I don't.
Alas, all things must pass.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Sup, fiddy cent. Holla!
It's been awhile 'tween posts, but that's how it goes. As reported by Sleeve and others, the record convention at the Eugene Hilton was a total blast on Sunday. I went with Cosmo and saw many, many friends from all areas of my work and music life, all amassed together and buying and/or selling records. My personal list of LPs reads like this:
1. Kraftwerk "Autobahn" - the record I've wanted since I first heard it when I was 17 or so.
2. Steve Miller "Book of Dreams" - yes, I know - the absolute best Steve Miller album ever with the best 70's - style pegasus on the cover.
3. Elvis Costello "My aim is True" a good copy. very pleased to finally own this one.
4. Brian Eno "Another Green World" the missing link between Eno's Roxy-Pop records and his later 70's ambient albums - another link in my personal Eno chain.
5. X "More fun in the New World" one of my all time faves and, truly, the last good X album ever.
6.Cure "Head on the Door" - I got this for Tina, but it's one of my HS era favorites.
7. The Kinks "Greatest Hits Vol. 2" on Pye records - My Kinks collection is lacking - in fact, this is the start of it. Early hits - "Well Respected Man", "Tired of Waiting", etc...
8 + 9. The Doors - "Waiting for the Sun" and "The Soft Parade" - Some people will hate me for saying this, But, I LIKE THE DOORS, so go f*ck yrself.
10. Aerosmith "Toys in the Attic" Another HS fave, I think this is the only Aerosmith album I have ever liked.
11. Tom Waits "Blue Valentine" I had a mint copy of this when I was 18. I always regretted selling it at some later date. A sweet album in the old TW style, before he became Beefheart pt 2.
And...
11. Kiss "Love Gun" - I bought this for Zookie, cuz he said it was the first record he ever bought. Happy Valentines day, Patty!
Cosmo scored on some cool vinyl, too - Van Halen 1, a choice copy of Rubber Soul for $2, a Green Day Bootleg dvd from sept. 2005 in the UK, and a few others. Proud of my boy and his good taste in tunes.
I'm going down to Luckeys later to see the Ovulators and Touchforce. See you there.
-Ed
It's been awhile 'tween posts, but that's how it goes. As reported by Sleeve and others, the record convention at the Eugene Hilton was a total blast on Sunday. I went with Cosmo and saw many, many friends from all areas of my work and music life, all amassed together and buying and/or selling records. My personal list of LPs reads like this:
1. Kraftwerk "Autobahn" - the record I've wanted since I first heard it when I was 17 or so.
2. Steve Miller "Book of Dreams" - yes, I know - the absolute best Steve Miller album ever with the best 70's - style pegasus on the cover.
3. Elvis Costello "My aim is True" a good copy. very pleased to finally own this one.
4. Brian Eno "Another Green World" the missing link between Eno's Roxy-Pop records and his later 70's ambient albums - another link in my personal Eno chain.
5. X "More fun in the New World" one of my all time faves and, truly, the last good X album ever.
6.Cure "Head on the Door" - I got this for Tina, but it's one of my HS era favorites.
7. The Kinks "Greatest Hits Vol. 2" on Pye records - My Kinks collection is lacking - in fact, this is the start of it. Early hits - "Well Respected Man", "Tired of Waiting", etc...
8 + 9. The Doors - "Waiting for the Sun" and "The Soft Parade" - Some people will hate me for saying this, But, I LIKE THE DOORS, so go f*ck yrself.
10. Aerosmith "Toys in the Attic" Another HS fave, I think this is the only Aerosmith album I have ever liked.
11. Tom Waits "Blue Valentine" I had a mint copy of this when I was 18. I always regretted selling it at some later date. A sweet album in the old TW style, before he became Beefheart pt 2.
And...
11. Kiss "Love Gun" - I bought this for Zookie, cuz he said it was the first record he ever bought. Happy Valentines day, Patty!
Cosmo scored on some cool vinyl, too - Van Halen 1, a choice copy of Rubber Soul for $2, a Green Day Bootleg dvd from sept. 2005 in the UK, and a few others. Proud of my boy and his good taste in tunes.
I'm going down to Luckeys later to see the Ovulators and Touchforce. See you there.
-Ed
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