What's Up This Weekend? Corrections

I am so sorry. I don't usually send out corrections but this time The Other Paper sent me so far astray, that I feel compelled. Thanks to Krista for the info.

Friday at Dick's is Paul Brown, not Roger Hines.

Sunday is Bop du fway's Christmas Mass show, not the Ooh-la-la's. They are NEXT Sunday, the 27th.

and Jim Maneri is doing a Christmas show at Dick's Thursday.

What's Up This Weekend?

I'm thankful for a young friend who gives this old guy a chance to dance for hours to live performances of Beatles covers and then clears off the living room table at 3:30 AM so we can dance in our socks to the Amy Winehouse CD. I'm also thankful to the old friend playing those Beatles covers and for all the fun and hospitality I've been shown in Athens all these years. By the way, I was able to add to my list of fabulous Athens eateries at The Purple Chopsticks. Unfortunately, I had to skip the traditional Sunday brunch at Casa Nueva to get back for a four hour Comfest meeting. That was brutal but they did serve a lovely buffet.

I'm aware how tight budgets are these days but for those of us who aren't homeless or hungry yet, bust the budget if necessary to give a little gift to your favorite charity this holiday season. My favorites are the Mid-Ohio Foodbank (3960 Bookham Dr., Grove City, Ohio 43123 midohiofoodbank.org) and the Capital Area Humane Society (3015 Scioto Darby Executive Court, Hilliard, Ohio 43026-8990 cahs-pets.org). You'll be glad you did.

Welcome to the World, Edra Elizabeth Duress. May you have as much fun as your parents used to have.

Finally, I'd like to apologize for all the misinformation that occasionally turns up in What's Up especially if you showed up on a cold night at the wrong place. If you don't know by now, I am subject to Alzheimer-like brain infarctions and just plain-old sloppiness. Despite all that, I hope you find it generally useful and entertaining.

Thursday, tonight, Dane Terry is one of the acts at Bernie's, Anna & the Annadroids have their 3rd Birthday Bash at Circus, Daycreeper and others are at Rumba, I wish I could tell you who was performing at the GRRLLZZ Rock Holiday Show at Thirsty Ear. It probably won't include Megan Palmer who is at Treehouse with Eric Nassau and his, in my opinion, unfortunately-named band, Sexfist.

Friday, Roger Hines is at Dick's, the Miss Molly Holiday Party including Eric Nassau and Joey Hebdo are at Thirsty Ear. And this weekend, I really believe there will be a Peloton showcase, unlike last week, at The Shelf, 57 E. Gay, with Moon High and Alwood Sisters among the acts.

Saturday, Total Foxx, comprised of David and Melanie Holm and Sam Brown share the stage with Terribly Empty Pockets and others at Bourbon Street. Every Saturday you can hear the amazing Bobby Floyd Trio, which includes Mr. DiCenzo, at the Lobby out east on Hamilton Road near Eastland (does that still exist?) and they are soliciting donations to the Mid-Ohio Foodbank. Skully's has The Phantods Holiday Show with Six Gallery and the Reciever. Thirsty Ear hosts the Rockabilly Holiday Ball with, among others, Vegas 68. It is 80s Power Ballad Night at Treehouse with the focus on Hair Metal and it benefits Christmas for needy kids. Boki Quartet featuring Betsy Pandora is at Vonn Blues Lounge. I haven't been to Vonn Blues yet but I saw on TV their fried chicken with waffles and strawberries that I must try.

Sunday, my girls, the Ooh-la-las do their holiday show at Dick's as only they can do.

Monday, the Cowtown Round at Rumba includes Megan Palmer, Milan Karcic and Jason Quicksall.

Wednesday, Christian Howes is back at Dick's.

Rockin' around the Christmas tree. Have a happy holiday. mark

What's Up This Weekend?

I've never been good at being able to listen to music and decipher the lyrics. I've assuaged that frustration, being somewhat of a lyricist myself, by working on the theory that lyrics are written in dream language. Not exactly Finnegans Wake style but like dreams, they don't always make real-world sense if you try to explain them. In dreams, words are spoken subconsciously. They communicate something to the sleeper beyond the surface of their literal translation. Similarly. the impact of lyrics on the listener's waking comprehension is a welter of impressions and feelings from the brain's best effort to do something with the superficial sounds it receives. Literal meanings fade in and out with mistaken identities, guesses and total misses and rhymes and alliteration that just feel good, Its all food for the imagination to make of it what it will. I feel the same way about listening to people in bars while the band is playing. I rarely can understand what they are saying but I've developed what I believe to be an ability to imagine or feel what they are saying. Now, of course, it is hard to carry-on a two-way conversation with a person who knows what they are talking about when I'm just feeling what they are talking about. Occasionally I'm able to catch enough to quickly adjust my thinking and utter a word or two in response but usually I just resort to non-verbal communication like grins, grimaces, smiles, nods, laughs, snorts, eye shifts and the occasional undefinable exclamations. It usually works. I don't think anyone has ever called me out on it. (They will now.) Its amazing how people can just go on and on against the current of all that noise in the room with seemingly no clue that it might be hard for me to understand what they're saying and be satisfied with such a one-sided conversation. I wish I could understand them but I might as well wish I could remember my dreams.

Thursday, tonight, Listening Hour at The Bristol features Eric Nassau, Tin Armor is at Carabar, Circus has Lollipop Factory, The Town Monster and Mors Ontologica, Peloton Records has another showcase at Ruby's, Dottie & Clyde are at Rumba with Angela Perley and Cuddle Magic and there is a benefit for Camp Sunshine at the Treehouse with Couch Forts and Dane Terry among others.

Friday, I was looking for some good face soap and, lo and behold, my favorite Clintonville saponifier, Paul Sandstrom, will be teaming up to do Bubbles & Bling at Dick's from 5 to 9 offering handcrafted all vegetable oil soaps and handcrafted jewelry....cheap! Later on at Dick's, something I look forward to like a kid does opening his presents on Christmas morning, The Randys Holiday Spectacular. Another great holiday show is the Skaggs Family Christmas at the Palace. I would love to see that. Elsewhere, The Jellyhearts and Lydia Loveless are at Carabar, Rumba has Old Hundred, Jessica Lee Mayfield, Vug Arkas and The Stallions, Skully's brings back The Loyal Divide and Treehouse has Matt Monta & the Hot Coal Band and Josh Fitzwater & the Shambles.

Saturday, Boki Quartet, Burglar, Miss Molly and Stucco Jones are at Rumba, The Spikedrivers do it again at Dick's and Victorian's has Brawn in the Mash, The Wahoos and Cowboy Hillbilly Hippie Folk. I will be heading down to Athens for The Prom, an annual masquerade ball benefit at my favorite Mexican restaurant, Casa Nueva, followed by another annual benefit for helping local kids learn music called Lennonfest at Jackie O's.

Sunday, Brett Burleson is at Dick's.

Monday The Madison Square Gardeners and You're So Bossy are at Rumba early followed by Jason Quicksall and Jesse Henry. Dottie & Clyde reappear at Treehouse with the The Hot Seats.

Wednesday, Chris Howes is at Dick's.

Dream a little dream for me. mark

What's Up This Weekend?

While many were enjoying Thanksgiving leftovers Friday, I enjoyed a musical feast. An evening with The Randys is a filling repast in itself. Dancing to their music is what I live for but, as with Thanksgiving dinner, I really need people I enjoy sharing it with for the full course experience. I was solo but the immediate Randys family of lovely ladies and a lovely and talented Randys virgin made it a very memorable evening for me. They were followed by Aaron Tasjean and his Ohio band playing his great original pop rock and showing off his tremendous set of pipes. Aaron, who is from New Albany and now hails from Brooklyn, had his family in the house including his grandmother who made it on to the dance floor to everyone's delight. I then motored over for The Spikedrivers at Dick's Den Crush of Humanity, dancing the rest of the night away. Speaking of crowded nights at Dick's, there's no better way for any remaining Randys virgins to get their cherry popped than Friday, December 11 at their annual Christmas Special. I got a taste of it last Friday when they performed my favorite holiday chestnut of The Randys repetoire "Christmas Don't Be Late" by The Chipmunks, including one verse done in falsetto. I love yelling "Alvin!".

Thursday, tonight, I'm going to sacrifice watching the first half of the Oregon Civil War to check out Dan Dougan's new project "Listening Hours at the Bristol' tonight featuring Chris Burney accompanied, I believe, by Sam Brown starting at 9 PM. Wet Darlings is at Circus, Joe Ong is at Dick's and Joey Hebdo is at Victorian's. Heidi P. W. offers fresh meat in the form of good new "post-rock" acts at Rumba including Old Worlds, Hurt People Hurt People, the Capella Movement, & Jon DePaso.

Friday, Church of the Red Museum is at Carabar (not Saturday per The Alive). It's the annual Ray Charles Tribute weekend at Dick's featuring Roger Hines and a local version of the Raylettes. This show is always good. The Floorwalkers are at Park Street. Rumba's happy hour features Jesse Henry and the Royal Tycoons and Dan Dougan's The Wahoos. Its Guided By Voices Appreciation Night at Treehouse.

Saturday, The Ray Charles Tribute reprises at Dick's, Matthew Hoover & the Supersaints and the Todd May Band are at Rumba. Skully's hosts the annual Rock Potluck Show with 41 local musicians from 41 different bands forming 8 ephemeral bands. Check out the write-up in The Alive or go to rockpotluck.com to see who's who with who and when. No doubt about it being an amazing collection of local talent. Screaming Females, Tin Armor and This Is My Suitcase are at The Summit.

Sunday, Derek DiCenzo is at Dick's. Check out his fun interview in The Other Paper.

I still want a hula hoop. mark

What's Up This Weekend?

My mom's favorite story about me is simply remembering how I came up to her at age 5 and complained "Mom, I'm not having any fun." It foreshadowed the hedonist I grew up to be. I expect Life to be positive and full of rich experiences and pleasures. When I'm greeted by a perfunctory "How are you?", I had a habit of unexpectedly responding "On top of the world." But there have been years, like this one, where the top of the world turns out to just be the North Pole. Obama's global warming hasn't resulted in melting the glaciers of ignorance and hate around me and, personally and professionally, things are a little chilly. But even in a down year, I can rattle off a whole host of things for which I'm thankful like my wonderful little house, great friends, especially my business partner, and good health for myself and my family including my parents who are in their late 80s. It helps to realize I could go on and on. This year I had reason to consider how I would convince someone who was clinically depressed that there are basic things for which to be thankful. Not having experienced that condition, I imagined they had lost their taste for Life. There is no flavor or texture or aroma to give them a purpose to consume Life other than to survive to the next day. The hunger they feel is just the pain of existence. What could I say to renew their appetite for joy and happiness, to inspire an edacity to devour all the beauty there is in the world, to make them feel the need to experience the fullness of helping others and the desire to satisfy the craving to love and to share love? I concluded there probably are no such therapeutic words. Maybe all I can do is show them. Well, I'm hungry. Pass the turkey and all the trimmings.

Thursday, tonight, a guy who always gives us a place to go on a holiday evening, Derek DiCenzo is at Dick's. This year we can also be thankful that Billy Zenn is still out there performing after his heart attack at Victorian's. Rumba has Colin Gawel and the Lonely Bones with Quinn Fallon and Micha Schnabel.

Friday, Cowboy Hillbilly Hippy Folk is at Victorian's and Paper Airplane is at Treehouse. My current budget has me down to one night out a week and this week I'm spending my allowance on the doorbuster bargain at Rumba's happy hour with The Randys' Black Friday Holiday Show (I hope there will still be the annual Christmas show to come) followed by the fabulous Aaron Tasjan and some other bands I don't know. If things get slow I might head over to Dick's to see The Spikedrivers.

Saturday, Ravari has Wing & Tusk and The Phantods, Deja Vu does a tirbute to Silvio Rodriguez at Oldfield's early, Chris McCoy, Los Cominos and Dr. Kenny Delicious are at Treehouse and Skully's has a hip-hop extravaganza featuring Grenhouse, Blueprint, Illogic, Envelope and others.

The Drexel in Bexley has the Sundance Award winner Precious with a really interesting cast of non-actor celebrities and the latest Coen Brothers production, The Serious Man. $5.00 on Mondays.

But you'll have to have them all cut out to have a Savoy Truffle. Happy Thanksgiving. mark

What's Up This Weekend?

I'm an old guy. I remember black and white television, rotary phones, transistor radios, carbon paper, mimeograph machines and typewriters. I've been fortunate enough to live through the most intense technological and cultural G-Force in the history of civilization. I noticed one of those sneaky changes while watching an OSU football game last weekend. I usually end up watching by myself, which I don't mind because I like to concentrate on the game, but I did have a tradition of making quick calls to my Dad or a fellow Buckeye fan at those dramatic moments before, during and after a game to share the experience. Now, I find myself texting instead of calling. A quick "Woohoo!" or "I blame Tressel" or "Thank you Football Jesus". It feeds into my creative writing addiction and using the phone to actually call someone these days just seems so...intrusive. But because my Dad and some old friends aren't hip to the texting thing, I don't share the games with them like I used to. Ironically, I find myself concentrating on typing and then missing parts of the game from which I would normally hate being distracted by conversation. It's insidious. I need to check myself and get back to the good old days of forcing someone to answer the phone and painfully listen to me scream.

Thursday, tonight, Brainbow and Beaten Awake are at Carabar. I heard Carrie Rodriguez on CBE this afternoon and she sounds worth the price of admission at Circus. Bop du Fway is at Dick's and Psychedelic Horseshit, a band I should probably give another listen to, is at Oldfield's.

Friday, Death by Banjo is at Byrne's early, Brasileira is at Dick's. There is a benefit for WCRS at Oldfield's, Ravari has Earwig, Rumba has what sounds like an interesting show with Assembly of Dust and Bum Wealthy, Daycreeper performs with headliner Digital Leather at The Summit. Another show that sounds promising is Jon Jack Talcum of the Dead Milkmen and Jeff Fernagel doing an early show at the Treehouse. Miss Molly teams up with Apocalypso at Victorian's.

Saturday, Dick's has Fox 'n' Hounds, Treehouse has Second State Butchers, Columbus Power Squadron and Sue Harshe, but my pick of a show to hopefully celebrate another whooping of Meeshagun would be Harper Simon, Paul's son, and the fabulous Woody Pines at Rumba.

Sunday, Randy Mather and Jim Maneri are at Dick's. My friend, Jyllian Tricot, is having a bit of a book release party around 5 PM at Z Cucina on Grandview Ave. with a little musical help from Bob Sauls. I've been waiting to read her memoir of sex, drugs and Temporal Lobe Epilepsy for a long time. I had to convince her to keep the title, "Saved for the Demon".

Tuesday, Old Hundred is at the Treehouse.

Wednesday, Brad Caulkins of The Sun returns from L.A. with his band, Fool's Gold at The Summit. Gotta be good. Former Sun band-mate, Sam Brown, opens with his band, You're So Bossy.

Get back. Get back. Get back to where you once belonged. mark

What's Up This Weekend?

Except for performing Script Ohio with my lawn mower on a colorful field of leaves during half-time, I didn't get outside much Saturday. So Sunday, I was determined to enjoy the freakishly warm and beautiful November weather even if it had to be by myself. I headed for Highbanks Park where I had often hiked with The Girlfriend. I was always just a follower and didn't even consider that there might be some importance to exactly where we had embarked upon the trails. I saw an empty parking space and headed for the nearest path. Before long, I realized I was exploring new territory but I pressed on figuring it had to get familiar somewhere along the line. When I saw the jarring blue and yellow tile covering the Skyline Chili restaurant through the trees, I started losing my concentration on Nature and got concerned about where the hell I was. I retraced my steps and took a different direction only to circle back to a view of Skyline Chili from another angle. I double-backed again and heard a little kid say as I walked past, "Daddy, isn't that the man we saw walking in front of us?" I eventually found one of the many "You are here" maps and felt relieved as I headed down a new path until I ended up back at the same map. The trails were like freeways at rush hour, full of people who knew where they were going and here I was, adrift in a maze. I figured out how I had gone wrong from the map and got on a different trail but when I approached a lodge I had passed an hour ago, I got a little panicky. I found a Ranger directing traffic, who knew me from the courthouse and commented on the directional deficiencies of attorneys. He gave me a map and told me how to get back to where I had started. Before I got there, I saw my car off the path and crashed through a field of tall grass and weeds like an escaped prisoner to get there. On my way out, I waived my thanks to the Ranger and headed home. Even though I finally knew where I was going, I realized that I was still lost.

Thursday, tonight, Jim Maneri is at Dick's. There is another Peloton Records showcase at Ruby's. The acts are nameless in the paper but considering all talent in their stable of artists, it's got to be good. Maybe they will be selling more vintage clothing like the fab stuff they had at Rumba last weekend. I wore my snap-on tie to court today. Treehouse has The Kyle Sowashes and Moviola and Victorian's has Will Scott with Donna Mogavero.

Friday, Old Worlds and Moon High are at Ruby's and Victorian's has a rare appearance by one of my faves, Heartbreak Orchestra along with Whoa Nellie and Erika Carey and the Calamaties.

Saturday, I can't vouch for anything but Evangelicals at Bourbon Street and Surfer Blood at The Summit sound interesting. Anna and the Annadroids perform their latest, Anthro(pop)ology Fri.- Sun. at Columbus Dance Theatre on Main St. near I-71 I believe.

Wednesday, some of my favorite ladies, Lydia Loveless and the Ooh La Las are at Circus.

Sunny day, Sweepin' the clouds away, On my way to where the air is sweet. Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street? mark