Friday, June 16, 2006

Birthday Boy

This morning on my usual work commute, I saw something quite UNusual. At 7:45 A.M, I see a man, handcuffed, being led towards a police car, naked as the day he was born. Homeboy was not even wearing socks, let alone underwear. He wasn't resisting, just walking along with a policeman on each arm as if he was enjoying their company on a leisurely stroll. Of course I immediately called the hubbie and explained the situation, cackling the whole time. This is exactly why I love living in the city. I can guarantee that I'm not going to get that kind of morning entertainment commuting from the West Valley. I guess after 2 plus years of commuting from what is essentially downtown LA, through Hollywood, through Beverly Hills and arriving in Santa Monica, I’ve become attached to the usual cast of characters that inhabit these areas.

In Silver Lake there’s the crazy guy wearing an ipod, who always pushes his shopping cart into oncoming traffic, completely oblivious that there’s cars are coming. If you honk at him he’ll walk even slower across the street. Closer to mid-city there’s a homeless man that I see that sleeps under the awning of a children’s furniture store. Every morning around 8:00 A.M I see him methodically pack up his bedding, (which is mostly cardboard boxes,) rinse his mouth out with something in a water bottle and dump another water bottle full of liquid out. I’m sure we can all guess what’s in the 2nd bottle but I hope his system never fails him and he mixes up the bottles.

But, my all time favorite is someone I don’t see everyday. I’m not sure if he’s homeless because the sightings are sporadic but he definitely walks to the beat of a different drum...LITERALLY. The first few times I saw him, I was sure that I was missing something. He was dancing and singing to what sort of sounded like James Brown. His eyes were shut, his head thrown back and he was absolutely covered in sweat. I was sure that he must’ve had a walkman on or boombox nearby, BUT NO. Every time I’ve seen him since, he sings at the top of his lungs, dances like a Backstreet Boy on crystal meth and there’s not a musical device in sight. It’s all in his head. The best is when he makes eye contact with you in the car, points and gives you a knowing nod, as if to say, “I know you love this song too, let’s sing it together, come on!”

When I got into work and powered up the computer I was already wanting to go home. I'm tired from a long week, fighting a cold and have a ton of things outside of work on my mind. But at the very least, I remembered to put on clothes this morning, and that makes it a good day.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

It's only rock n' roll but I like it

There are a few bands that I always dreamed of seeing but knew I never would. Deaths, break-ups and the fact that I was barely in High School were some main obstacles. I used to slow dance with myself to Duran Duran, crying because I knew I’d never meet, let alone see Simon LeBon perform. Later I was too young to drive to concerts (and too broke,) to see bands like The Ramones, Echo & the Bunnymen and the Damned. I did however have cool folks who took me to the Rolling Stones, (Guns n’ Roses opened,) Billy Joel, Michael Jackson, (that was a friend’s parents- my folks thought there was something wrong with him… go figure,) and MC Hammer. Please- save the jokes-at the time he was the bomb. =)

Now that this 80s re-emergence is happening, I’ve actually had a chance to see some bands that I was sure I’d never see. Shows that I only dreamed of in my tiny room when I was 9 years old. I saw Duran Duran last year and cried when they played "The Chauffer." I saw the GoGo’s at the Greek a couple years ago, and actually hung out backstage watching Belinda playing with her baby. A far stretch from her punk days playing with The Germs. I saw the Pixies a few times on their reunion tour. (Although, I didn’t discover them when I was that young, as soon as I heard them I knew I had to see Frank Black screaming.) Tonight I saw Echo & The Bunnymen, which blew me away. They sounded better than the albums. This is such a big deal for me because these are childhood dreams come true.

However, the one band I missed and will never reunite is Nirvana. And I still get choked up hearing Kurt’s voice. I think a lot of people my age do. I guarantee that almost every gen-Xer will tell you where they were when they heard of his death.

Music is such a powerful part of our lives. Just the way a familiar smell can conjure memories, so can a song. I’m thrilled that music has veered away from that awful rap/rock back to real rock n’ roll. And I’m sure I’m going to end up like my mom, who was playing the Stones when I was 3 years old, saying “tempo Samantha, tempo” as I banged my spoon on my high chair to the music. I feel sorry for anyone who can listen to Elliott Smith and not cry- or at the very least reflect. I feel sorry for people who are so close-minded that they only listen to one type of music, (and please- for the love of GOD, don’t let that be jazz.) I just told a friend that I was sure I lost my membership card to the punk-rock club because I just bought Lionel Richie’s “Easy” on itunes. Yet, that falls right next to The Locust on my ipod. (Please check them out if you have no idea who I’m talking about.)

I suppose what I’m trying to say is never let that passion go because it keeps you young. My first entry into my very first diary, (when I was 8,) was that I saw my favorite video on MTV that day- “Safety Dance” if you can believe it. I went out and bought the record. I still get that same giddy feeling at 31, listening to The Dandy Warhols, as when I was 15 listening to Cinderella’s “Don’t Know What You Got Til It’s Gone.” (Which is still an awesome song!)

I think everyone should have an ipod, or hell, a walkman, and have some private rock out time at least once a week. It’ll change your life!