ISO 'Tessie' for SF (CA) Jimmy Fund Benefit

Fenway West presents 'Rock & Sox~ A Benefit for the Jimmy Fund' on the night of Saturday, June 26th at The Connecticut Yankee, a Red Sox and Boston sports restaurant, bar and music venue less than 2 miles from the Giant's ATnT Park. 'The Cancer Sucks Band' will bring patrons on a musical journey from Fenway Park in Boston to San Francisco. All proceeds will go to The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and The Jimmy Fund. As part of the night's enjoyment, I will be having my hair cut to donate to Locks of Love. We're looking for a hair stylist who ideally somewhat resembles 'Tessie' in the Dropkick Murphys video of the song. If you have an outfit that somewhat resembles Tessie's in the video, that puts you up to the top of the list. If you're coming to San Francisco for the Red Sox @ Giants series, send an e-mail to RockAndSox@gmail.com with photo(s) and a brief summary of your hair styling background. Since it is a benefit, there is no pay, but it will get you a $20 ticket to the show, which has some very special guests who have been invited to appear and to perform. Red Sox merchandise will be given away in drawings over the course of the evening. Tickets are now on sale. Go to RockAndSox.com for ticket purchase information.

And if you're curious as to how a Red Sox bar got a name like Connecticut Yankee, just click here.

Cancer Benefit band ISO keyboard player

'The Cancer Sucks Band' will be playing 1 night only on Saturday, June 26th at The Connecticut Yankee in San Francisco. This is a benefit sponsored by Fenway West for The Jimmy Fund and The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. This Benefit is scheduled to coincide with the Boston Red Sox 1st trip to San Francisco and ATnT Park in 6 years. We have secured official recognition of this event from Dana-Farber. The 1st set will consist of songs about the City of Boston, songs by bands from Boston, baseball songs, and songs that are played at Fenway Park. The 2nd set will have a distinct SF flavor- all Grateful Dead, as we bring patrons on a musical journey from Fenway Park in Boston to San Francisco. The house band for the night has been assembled and includes Dave Stein, Pat Nevins, Jeff Faust, and yours truly. We have invited some very special guests to sit in with us, including Stu Allen of Front Street, JGB, and Dark Star Orchestra. The Connecticut Yankee is a Red Sox and Boston sports bar less than 2 miles from ATnT Park. Tickets are available at Rock and Sox~ A Benefit for The Jimmy Fund. If you are interested, please send an e-mail to RockandSox@gmail.com with your contact info, web site, and samples of your playing. Rehearsals will begin soon. Charts, lyrics, chords, and links to download the covers are ready to go out. This is a benefit, so there will be no pay as we raise funds for 2 very worthwhile charitable organizations and have a lot of fun doing it. I'm even having my hair cut on stage for Locks of Love.

Do you like baseball AND the Dead?

I’m lookin’ for my fuzzy little hippy girl who likes baseball and the Dead. Growing up 60 miles south of Fenway Park, I became a Red Sox fan, still loyal to them to this day 43 years later. Ironically, my favorite NL team was the Giants, followed closely by Chicago and Pittsburgh- my first ball game ever was at old Forbes Field. These days, I find myself writing for a Red Sox blog that frequently gets over 10k hits/month. I still like those three NL teams, and I’ll root for the A’s, too, unless they’re playin’ against the Sox.

Besides writing for the blog, I find myself playing in anywhere from 2 to 4 bands at any given moment.

I have 2 tickets to CHC @ SFG, August 9th in the official Jerry section, meaning we’ll get a pair of Jerry bobblehead dolls, and be surrounded by a bunch of freaks! We are everywhere!

I also have 2 tickets to the Sunday, June 27th Red Sox @ SFG game. I will be hosting a Benefit for The Jimmy Fund the night before at The Connecticut Yankee, less than 2 miles from ATnT Park. Some of the Bay Area's finest musicians will be playing, and there have been some very special guests invited, too.

Rock & Sox~ A Benefit for The Jimmy Fund

Rock & Sox - A Benefit for The Jimmy Fund,

with ‘The Cancer Sucks Band’

featuring Dave Stein, Pat Nevins, Jeff Faust and Sam Flot

and very special guests to be announced soon.

Fenway West’s California Cancer Benefit

will be held after the SOX @ SFG game on

Saturday, June 26th at

The Connecticut Yankee

Connecticut Avenue & 17th Street, San Francisco,

located less than 2 miles from The SF Giants' AT&T Park.

After the game is over, come on over to The Connecticut Yankee for a night of great food and great music as The Cancer Sucks Band features some of the best Bay Area musicians and will bring you on a musical journey from Boston to San Francisco. The Connecticut Yankee has a great menu, great food, great beer, wide screen TV, and regularly hosts nationally known bands as well as up and coming bands that have great potential for success.

Bookmark Rock & Sox for updates about this event.
Facebook group page, click here
Facebook event page, click here
Follow on Twitter, too: http://twitter.com/FenwayWest

And if you’re curious as to how a Red Sox bar came to have a name like 'The Connecticut Yankee', or as it is known locally, The Yankee, click here.

Baseball Nightmares

From Jon Miller’s “ Confessions of a Baseball Purist”

“… Don Aase…told me of a dream he’d had several times. It had a baseball context, but unlike mine, there was nothing cryptic about it. In Don’s dream, he was on the mound when a scorching line drive was hit right at his head. Just then, he would invariably sit bolt upright in bed, throw his arms in front of his face, and let out a bloodcurdling shriek.”

Picture yourself at the plate, bat in hands, waiting for the pitcher. He winds up and throws the ball. Picture a 90+ mph fastball coming right at your head.
Picture it…

Scary, huh?

I used to compete in water ski jumping for distance. The boat runs parallel to the center line of the jump ramp 30 to 45 feet away from that centerline. The jumper pulls out far to one side of the boat and then cuts across the boat wakes as late as possible trying to generate as much speed as possible, speeds as high as 65 mph. A jump ramp is about 22’ long by about 8’ wide and is 5’ to 5 & ½’ high at the top. The sides have thick plywood aprons to keep a jumper from going under the surface of a ramp if he were to be cutting too late.

This is the way it's supposed to be done.

I’ve had nightmares of hitting the side of the ramp after I cut too late. I have gone over the surface of the ramp making very small mistakes, flying ass end over bandbox and crashing on my back or sides several times. I have seen a fellow competitor flying through the air, arms and legs akimbo, after making the tiniest of errors. I watched him eat his ski as it hit his mouth the instant he was crashing against the water.

Typical jump crash

I read that passage from Miller’s book last night. As soon as I had finished it, I had to put the book down as I immediately came down with a severe case of heebie-jeebies thinking about that fastball, and then all those jump crashes. It takes a very long time to learn an athletic skill such as hitting a baseball or jumping for distance to the point where you just do it without thinking. There is no time to ‘think’, only do. There are less than a couple of seconds from the time one starts his cut to the jump to the time one actually makes contact with the ramp. Every bone and muscle in your body needs to know what to do without thinking about it. Hitting a baseball takes the same discipline. A batter has a fraction of a second to decide whether to swing, stay, or duck once the pitcher releases the ball.

I crashed so hard one time that I ended up spending two weeks in the hospital with a pair of collapsed lungs, but as soon as I was able, I went right back to jumping the next year. Fear was not known to me back then. Respect, yes, but not fear. Unfortunately for my friend and fellow competitor, fear did become of him, as he no longer jumped after his crash.

Tallahassee, FL 1979

Fenway West 03.04.10

Planet Waves

These videos were shot at Brown's Binyerd in Novato on Friday, February 19th. Dead Set opened, Jimmy sat in with them.




'Put Your Shoes in My Closet'; Dead Set w/Jimmy




'Friend of the Devil'; Dead Set w/Jimmy




'She Belongs to Me'; Planet Waves





'Simple Twist of Fate'; Planet Waves

Stackabones 02.06.10 at The Connecticut Yankee

I'm in there tucked in the corner behind Butch and Brad. I was playing congas and percussion this show, multi-instrumentalist Scott Cooper played drums this time.

Now if Mike would get the 05.09.09 show to me!

"Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by size, do you?”

I’m new to living in the Russian River area. Used to camp here in the past, but now live in Forestville, and looking for new local friends. I have friends, but they’re spread out over several Bay Area counties. I play drums in two bands regularly, and a couple of others occasionally. I’m the exception to the drummer rule- I arrive at shows an rehearsals on time and sober, have reliable transportation, rarely make it past beer #2, don’t smoke anything while playing, and despite not having a girlfriend, I’m not homeless.

Living on disability, I don’t have much money for widgets, useless trinkets, and premium cable TV. As to the disability, you probably wouldn’t notice it at first. Too many water ski jump crashes, mountain bike crashes, a couple of yard sales on 2x black diamond bump runs at Kirkwood, and a head on car wreck** have led me to a more sedate lifestyle. When not playing at rehearsals, sessions, or shows, I spend way too much time surfing mindlessly on the internet (but getting better, though, really!) That and Criminal Minds reruns takes up much of my time. In the wintertime, anyhow.

I like working out in the yard and the garden, playing backgammon and chess, baseball (I write for a baseball blog that gets over 10k hits/mo), writing, reading, and watching DVD movies. I’m not really into Rocky/Rambo/Ah-nold & Bruce Willis smash-em-up thrillers or gratuitous violence, rather I like quality psychothrillers that challenge your mind (hence Criminal Minds; also NCIS, Law & Order, and CSI), old Bogey movies, and adult comedies (‘About Schmidt’, fr’instance.) I’ve read many baseball books, The Hobbit and LotR I-II-III, Jimmy Buffett, Edward Abbey, Dave Foreman, and John Muir. Currently reading Kerouac’s ‘The Town and The City.’ My politics are far left, but I’m not really active right now, outside of voting.

I used to go to tons of jam band, jazz, and bluegrass shows, but these days I prefer going out when I’m playing. I’ve got a daughter who just graduated high school and moved back in with her mother after 3+ years of living with me. (Nothing toxic in the ex department, we actually get along better now than when we were married.) I rarely drink anymore. I’m 420 friendly and legal, too, but no tobacco! Yuk.

If you’re still reading, well then… I have an extra ticket to see Marley’s Ghost at the Sebastopol Community Center, Saturday, February 6th. Meet first some afternoon somewhere in the Sebastopol, Forestville, or Guerneville area for coffee, tea, or one of those infrequent beers I mentioned?

* Yoda
** As Short Round would say, “Not my fault! Not my fault!”

Rhode Island Is Famous For You; Blossom Dearie

Quotes from 'Criminal Minds'

"The defects and faults of the mind are like wounds in the body. After all imaginable care has been taken to heal them up, still there will be a scar left behind."

Francois de La Rochefoucauld

"It has been said that time heals all wounds. I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue, and the pain lessens, but it is never gone."

Rose Kennedy

Put Down the Cell Phone NOW!!!

I dare anyone to watch these videos and then continue to use a cell phone for talking or texting while driving. You will never do it again. No phone call is that important! Let it go to voice mail or pull over! If you start watching these videos, you could literally follow links to many more videos and be there watching for hours.

One more graphic video, embedding disabled by request, so you have to click on the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUzQAmWKOw8

Now this is how it's s'posed to be done

In 1983, I was practicing on Scott Pond in Lincoln, RI with Greg Collins, Kenny Waitt, and Lyle Perkins. We tied two 70' ropes together. One end was tied to the jump, the other end was pulled taut and a buoy was set there. I passed it a few times that year, so I'm guessing my longest in practice was about 145'. My longest in a tournament was about 115'. Never could figure out why I could never perform as well as in practice until many years later.

The following photo was taken in Tallahassee, FL, in the winter 1978. This jump was probably my best, cleanest jump ever, estimated at 120'. Fortunately, the school photographer was there to preserve the moment. The boat speed for the jumps in 1983 was 35 mph, the ramp height, 5.5 feet; while the boat speed for the jumps at FSU was 32 mph, ramp height 5'. (There were slightly different rules for intercollegiate skiing from open amateur competitions.)

I have been wanting to write to my brother in TN who got me into skiing. He sent me a link to a 'redneck water skiing' youtube video. I started clicking on other ski videos and discovered the video at the top of this post. This gave me an opportunity to write to him.

In 1983, the world record was 187'; John Mondor, if I'm not mistaken.

Been there, done that...

Abolish Money. Make a Resource Based Economy.

Rosie O'Donnell Says "F*ck" On Jimmy Fallon Show

Rosie O'Donnell Says "F*ck" On Jimmy Fallon Show, Calls Glenn Beck "Carnival Barker" (VIDEO)

Smoke-Free shows in New Orleans rock!!!

We filmed this video at the Big Sam's Funky Nation and DJ Brice Nice show at the Blue Nile in New Orleans, October 2009. Musicians prefer smoke-free air so they can blow their horns, sing and generally perform better.

Russian River Acoustic Band

New to the Russian River area and looking for acoustic bass and guitars for acoustic get togethers either here in Forestville or at your location close-by. I’m already playing in 2 other bands, and since I keep the full set down in San Rafael, I am looking to play locally in an acoustic setting where all I need to bring is my throne, snare, brushes, hi-hat, chimes, and a ride cymbal. Eventually looking to play in venues such as Ace Pub in Graton, and Iron Springs and Sleeping Lady Café (nee Café Amsterdam) in Fairfax. Originals are good if you have any. I don’t write, but influences include Allman Brothers Band, Grateful Dead, Doobie Brothers, String Cheese Incident, Phish, Little Feat, Dire Straits, Pat Metheny Group, Yonder Mountain String Band, David Thom Band, David Grisman, Bonnie Raitt, Max Creek, Jimmy Buffett, Dan Fogelberg, Santana, Robert Johnson, Dave Mason, Bela Fleck, Joe Walsh, Eagles, Rodney Carrington, Tom Waits, Poor Man’s Whiskey, Loudon Wainwright III, Bob Dylan, The Band, bluegrass and rootsy Americana, old blues, a little bit of classical, and almost anything out of New Orleans. Especially interested in comedians and raconteurs with guitar or bass. (Think Buffett, Wainwright Walsh, Carrington.)

Photo: Me and David Gans at Dave Stein's monthly acoustic Dead tribute in San Francisco.

Keep Tahoe Blue?

Do you really want to 'Keep Tahoe Blue'? It's easy, really; downright simple: don't go there. That's all there is to it. The less human impact on the Tahoe basin, the bluer the lake will stay.

Bristol Revisited

I grew up in Bristol years ago and go back to RI for visits every other year, or so.

I was shocked to see all the new houses on Narrows and Annawamscutt Roads several years ago, and now there are tons more on Metacomet Avenue as well. The traffic is unbelievably horrendous on that road. I hope I never hear of anyone on the zoning board complain about the traffic on Metacomet Avenue. The town has allowed these huge McMansions to be squeezed into every last lot into the Narrows area, an area that used to be a very nice small beachside community that was far removed from bright urban lights and suburban sidewalks. Who are the politicians who let all those eyesores blight that neighborhood? King Philip Avenue (posted speed limit – 15 mph) has turned into a drag strip. There used to be a couple of houses that had neon palm trees on their patios! Neon palm trees?! Huh?! I didn’t see them this year, but what in the world were those people thinking when they put them up?! Bristol is NOT Florida! There is a house on the waterfront with a seawall in front it that has fallen into such disrepair that the next good storm that comes along will knock it down, sending the house into Mt. Hope Bay and dragging neighbors down with it. I’m really surprised that the CRMC hasn’t stepped in and done something about it yet.

Bristol newbies are not Bristolians, they are Bristolites (Bristol-lites.)

I had considered moving back there, but that notion has completely disappeared now. I thought about it a couple of years ago, but naah. Nice place to visit, but…

Note~ I have been considering sending this post to the Bristol Phoenix and Providence Journal editors, but fear that there could be some retribution against my family who still live there after seeing plenty of riff-raff that has moved into the ol' neighborhood.

Anger

Wow. I just went back and read most of my posts, and I can now see a lot of anger in those posts that I may not have realized I was inputting at the time of the original post. I had a long talk today with a cousin that I had not seen in a very long time. I told her about my blog, so I decided to go back and read much of it before I sent her the link. As I said, wow.

Sierra has turned 18, graduated high school, and moved back in with her mother. My moving date was pushed up from fall of this year to June, as my landlord needed to move back into his place. I found a nice place up close to the Russian River in Sonoma County, but moving wasn't wasn't easy. I wanted to move in the fall to avoid the heinous heat that occurs in the summer months around here, but I got lucky and found a place I really like so far.

I'll be back home soon enough and look forward to tapping into those creative veins that I have mentioned in previous posts- playing and writing music and lyrics, rebuilding small wooden boats, photography, and candlemaking. I hope to find some backgammon partners. And I really want to get past all that negativity. I want to start writing about other topics besides the personal diary stuff. Maybe I just needed to get it written down in order to get past that anger.

Thanks to my cousin for the long talk today.