What's Up This Weekend?

It is a cruel irony that the only obvious indication observable by everybody, other than polar bears, that global warming is real is the fact that it creates huge storms that dump tons of snow on us. Unfortunately, that irony is lost on most tea baggers, Republicans and the rest of the intellectually challenged in our country who, inexplicably, don't also believe the sun circles the Earth. The sad thing is that this lack of public enlightenment will probably actually hinder the effort to pass effective energy legislation that will just result in even more snow! My driveway is 120 feet long up a hill and don't even think about parking on the unplowed wasteland that is my street. Snow shoveling is a bit of Zen experience but enough with the fro-Zen already! My BMW refuses to navigate through the stuff so I've been using the front-wheel drive Saab even though it acted like it was choking on any amount of moisture and died on me in the middle of the freeway and downtown traffic a couple times before I was able to clear its throat. Driving it on all these snow days has been quite the stressful adventure. I can't tell you how relaxing it is to drive that car after my brother finally figured out what the problem was and got it fixed. Positively endorphin-producing. The only fun I've had with this "global storming" is knocking down the icy stalactites off my gutters. One was at least 7 feet long and when I hit it, the shovel clanged like it had hit an iron pole. Most of them came down like a tinkling glissando across a xylophone. It's fun being a bull in an icy china shop.

Thursday, tonight, Wet Darlings at Circus and Daycreeper and Washington Beach Bums are at Oldfileld's on High.

Friday, The Kyle Sowashes and Ghost Shirt are at Carabar, Oldfield's on High has The Resisters and the Maryannes, Rumba has The Floorwalkers, Thirsty Ear has a Beatles tribute with Miss Molly and the first evening of the Lost Weekend Record Store's 7th anniversary show at Ruby's includes Fort Shame, Mors Ontologica, Main Street Gospel, Bush League All-Stars and finishes with New World Vultures.

Saturday. Lost Weekend continues with Mt. Carmel, Nick Tolford and Deadsea among others. Jesse Henry & the Royal Tycoons are at Rumba, The Loyal Divide and Town Monster are at Skully's, the happy hour at Thirsty Ear has Heidi Howes followed by the Josh Krajcik Band and Dr. Kenny Delicious. Eric Nassau, the Tin Hearts and the John Turk Trio are at Vic's.

Tuesday, quite the line-up for the Alana Howard benefit at Rumba including the Spikedrivers, The Floorwalkers, the Andy Shaw Band, Matt Monta and the Hot Coal Band, Joey Hebdo, Wet Darlings and others.

Walkin' in a winter wonderland. mark

What's Up This Weekend? Special Valentines Day and 4th Anniversary Edition

I was listening to Garrison Keillor's "Writer's Almanac" on CBE as I parked in front of the dry cleaners. He was telling the story of Irish poet and playwright, Oscar Wilde, who had gotten himself incarcerated for two years at hard labor on the charge of "gross indecency". Keillor read Wilde's flamboyantly rapturous and beautifully poetic love letter written from prison to his lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. In the cold isolation of the "deepest abysses", his passion seemed to burn like a pure white hot flame. "Pleasure hides love from us but pain reveals it in its essence." Listening to the reading of this letter was one of those moments when you just sit in your parked car until its over. I remember the nagging feeling that I was missing some connection to me in the reading of that letter. It wasn't until I laid my head on my pillow that night and descended into the mental twilight where my mind blissfully wanders so freely, that it came to me. The theme of the triumph of love over pain and separation in Oscar's letter was the same theme of my most recent Valentine poem, the synchronicity of which compels me to share it with you at the bottom of my musical almanac along with a copy of Wilde's entire letter for your Valentines Day reading enjoyment. I would attach a scan of the pencil and watercolor painting that illustrates the poem on each of the Valentine cards but one of the many traditions associated with the annual production and dissemination of my little art project includes a prohibition on sending them to men. Oscar would not have approved.

It is also the 4th anniversary of "What's Up This Weekend?" and another of my traditions is to ask my readers to let me know who is actually reading this self-indulgent crap by simply hitting the reply button and adding a message if they are so inclined. Thank you for reading and, for those who have been so inclined, your support is what keeps me embarrassing myself each week.

Thursday, tonight, Dick's has The Boki Quartet hopefully including the lovely Betsy Pandora who I have yet to actually hear sing.

Friday, Moon High, The Songbirds and The Alwood Sisters are at Rumba.

Saturday will be a Valentines Day Eve with lots of choices. The Broken Hearts and Broken Strings showcase at the Basement features Lydia Loveless and her great new band, Two Cow Garage and many others. Matt Monta & the Hot Coal Band and Bombing Mansfield are at Bernie's. Carabar has two of the best rock bands in Columbus, The Lindsay and Bookmobile. Wet Darlings is at Ruby's, Mary Adam 12 and One Under are at Rumba and The Spikedrivers are doing a CD recording show at Skully's. Treehouse has Ghost Shirt, SPD GVNR and Mt. Carmel.

Sunday, you can spend Valentines Day with Girls, Girls, Girls, a collection of our most talented local female musical artists including Linda Dachtyl on drums, Elisa Nicolas on Bass, Nicole Rachelle on Sax/Flute, Lindsay Ciulla on Mellophone, Bree Frick on Cello, Molly Winters on guitar, and the sweet vocals of Za Unitt. Beautiful!

In the space between our stars
I see the lines of a constellation
I may not feel the warmth of your skin
But my passion is a fiery sensation

I wish the taste of your sweet lips
Could replace the flavor of a tear
There may be only silence between us now
But love is all I hear

mark


"My sweet rose, my delicate flower, my lily of lilies, it is perhaps in prison that I am going to test the power of love. I am going to see if I cannot make the bitter warders sweet by the intensity of the love I bear you. I have had moments when I thought it would be wise to separate. Ah! Moments of weakness and madness! Now I see that would have mutilated my life, ruined my art, broken the musical chords which make a perfect soul. Even covered with mud I shall praise you, from the deepest abysses I shall cry to you. In my solitude you will be with me. I am determined not to revolt but to accept every outrage through devotion to love, to let my body be dishonored so long as my soul may always keep the image of you. From your silken hair to your delicate feet you are perfection to me. Pleasure hides love from us, but pain reveals it in its essence. O dearest of created things, if someone wounded by silence and solitude comes to you, dishonored, a laughing-stock, Oh! You can close his wounds by touching them and restore his soul which unhappiness had for a moment smothered. Nothing will be difficult for you then, and remember, it is that hope which makes me live, and that hope alone. What wisdom is to the philosopher, what God is to his saint, you are to me. To keep you in my soul, such is the goal of this pain which men call life. O my love, you whom I cherish above all things, white narcissus in an unmown field, think of the burden which falls to you, a burden which love alone can make light. ... I love you, I love you, my heart is a rose which your love has brought to bloom, my life is a desert fanned by the delicious breeze of your breath, and whose cool spring are your eyes; the imprint of your little feet makes valleys of shade for me, the odour of your hair is like myrrh, and wherever you go you exhale the perfumes of the cassia tree.



"Love me always, love me always. You have been the supreme, the perfect love of my life; there can be no other..." Oscar Wilde

What's Up This Weekend?

An interesting day of work, yesterday. Started out in the morning with the suit and tie, gliding up and down the hallways of Justice, engaging in light conversations, laughing and smiling and doing what I seem to do more often than anything there; continuing cases and delaying hard decisions and painful trials for another day. Went home and had lunch with the cats as I normally do but instead of returning to my lovely office to sit at my desk, surf the Buckeyes and the Huffington Post, tap away at emails and maybe a document or two, I changed into my old jeans, hiking boots and the most durable jacket I had and drove out to my friend's farm to help him drag severed trees, butchered into 5 foot long, six inch thick segments down a slippery hillside overgrown with thorny weeds and tangled vines and then fling the logs, like a Scottish caber tosser, into a raging bonfire. He had already done most of the cutting and while he attended to other projects, I was left alone to stoke the inferno with the corpses of recently harvested plant-beings whose incredibly dense layers of cellulose represented decades of growth and serene life in this classic example of Ohio woodland countryside. As I stood watching the flames release the enormous energy contained in those wooden time-capsules, so hot that I could feel the skin of my face cooking red, it occurred to me that I've spent years dragging peoples marriages, densely packed with years of shared experiences, love and life, down slippery and thorny paths of paper and palaver and tossed those relationships into the fire on the alter of the Law. All in a day's work, I guess.

Thursday, tonight. Woody Pines is at Dick's. The Floorwalkers and Dr. Kenny Delicious are at Oldfields either tonight or tomorrow depending on which paper you believe. I tried to find out and couldn't.

Friday is a big night. I really want to see my friends Dave Baer, Joey Hebdo, Catfish and June Bug as The Lennon Orchestra bringing their dance-all-night Beatles thing up from Athens to the Thirsty Ear but I've also got to see RJD2 with Happy Chichester, Derek DiCenzo and Sam Brown at Skully's. In addition, Carabar has Flu Faker, Daycreeper and/or New World Vultures and there is a Tom Waits-a-thon benefiting Haiti at Circus.

Saturday, Wonder Twin Powers is at Ravari and Lydia Loveless does a CD release at Rumba with Micah Schnabel and Todd May.

I should be sleepin' like a log. mark

What's Up This Weekend?

I was faced with quite a dilemma last night. Obama rescheduled his State of the Union so one would miss the final episode of "Lost". Instead, it was scheduled against something I wanted to watch; the OSU-Iowa basketball game. I'm an alumnus and a hardcore Buckeye fan. On the other hand, I watch every Obama speech because he is the Master of Oratory and, hopefully, he is going to lead my country out of the wilderness. Both have the thrill factor of being live, history-in-the-making events. The Bucks make me scream and yell and frighten the cats. Obama chokes me up and gives me the chills. Both had recently disappointed me though. The Bucks dropped a big one to West Virginia and Obama seemed to be pandering to the Independents with the spending freeze. Who to watch? The game started at 8:30 and by the time the Prez was getting ready to actually speak after all the pomp and circumstance and applause it was near halftime and the Bucks were down by 5 so I went with the speech. It was great stuff as usual. His style is so comfortable and down-to-earth. He can be funny and he can be brutally honest. He absolutely nailed both Democrats and Republicans but when he went after the 9 Supreme Court Justices seated right in front of him, it was a public crucifixion. When he scolded them about their recent corporate free speech decision, I yelled out, "No he did-un't!" They looked so old and pathetic as they were forced to listen to the beatdown. I was lovin' it. Now, occasionally he would start getting into the classic rhetorical real-life examples and I would flip over to the game. I discovered the Bucks were making a dramatic comeback back so I started flipping back and forth during time outs. I did see Obama make some truly inspiring pleas to the congress and senate to get over the political bullshit and start doing something for the country but I missed his promise to finally get rid of Don't Ask Don't Tell. Instead, I was able to watch the Bucks pull out an all-important road win. It was a challenging evening for me on the remote but I came away a happy Buckeye and a proud American.

Thursday, tonight, at Skullys, Love Culture and Atoms Inception are recommended to me by a friend and Alert New London is one I can vouch for. I will definitely be trying to catch new local band Adult Fiction at Rumba because it includes Chris Burney (The Sun) and Andrew Graham (RTFO Bandwagon) among other veterans of the scene. They share the stage with two other great local bands, You're So Bossy and Bookmobile. Za Unitt is at Treehouse and Grassahol and Miller Kelton are at Victorian's.

Friday, Carabar has Audion, Go Evol Shiki and Mortimu. Circus has Burglar and Mount Carmel. Ghost Shirt is at Hal and Al's and Brasileira is at Dicks. The Alive says Ghost Shirt will also be at the Treehouse with The Receiver, The Whiles and Wing & Tusk. I will be doing the happy hour at Rumba with my beloved Randys who are followed that evening by The Floorwalkers. Skully's features Jared Mahone, The Andy Shaw Band and Wet Darlings. My mandolin-playing buddy, Lee, will be at Vic's with Grassinine.

Saturday, Blueprint and Illogic are at Carabar, Two Cow Garage and Stucco Jones are at Rumba and No. 1 Cat featuring Nikki Wonder is at Skully's with Wolfgang Parker. I'm a big No. 1 Cat fan.

Sunday, there is a tribute/benefit for Willie Pooch at Roadhouse 66, 480 E. Wilson Bridge Road featuring Willie Pooch and the Upsetters, Ray Fuller and the Bluesrockers and many more special guests. Obviously, the news of Willie's death was greatly exaggerated. He did lose a leg but Columbus' finest blues singer still has a strong voice.

Did you ever have to make up your mind? mark

What's Up This Weekend?

If you read my weekly musings, you may remember that the last installment was another in a series of embarrassing, mundane vignettes from my life. Amazingly enough, I am blessed with readers who write me back occasionally and one responded simply, but comfortingly "you are so human." Another asked to be removed from the the list because she was leaving town and kindly added, "Thanks for the insights". My human frailty is undeniable and my greatest source of insight. For instance, just last night, I had a dream that I was at a Comfest meeting and I was reading out loud a series of cards lined up on long tables containing cartoons that illustrated the failures of mankind. I remember one depicting the way we had "fouled the atmosphere and the water." Towards the end, I got to the cartoons that began to describe how society could still redeem itself, that there was still time for us to do the right things. Of course, whenever you get to the good part of a dream, you wake up. As I tried to grasp the dissolving filaments of that hopeful dream, it occurred to me that I also have failed in many ways to live a successful life, I've made a lot of stupid decisions and yet the dream made me feel that I also still have a chance to redeem myself and start getting things right. The idea that humans may fail but may still choose redemption, is a simple, well-known insight that is a basic tenet, I suppose, of many religions and philosophies but it was enough of a glowing revelation to keep me from getting back to sleep at two in the morning.

Thursday, tonight, dueling jazzbos with Bop du fway at Dick's and Roger Hines down the street at Oldfield's. Heidi Howes has a CD release at Thirsty Ear. She has an amazing operatic voice. The happy hour show at Rumba has the Joey Hebdo Band with Matt Reed and TGP. The Winter Jamboree at Victorian's is a benefit for the Goodale Park Music Series, WCBE and the Third Hand Bike Shop and features Erika Carey & the Calamaties, Cowboy Hillbilly Hippy Folk, Tin Hearts, Jon Turck Trio and Eric Nassau. I hear you can fill up on delicious chili with the $10 admission while supporting some real gems of our community. Starts early at 6.

Friday, Bernie's is having its 35th anniversary party possibly featuring Willie Phoenix and Elana Caplin (per The Other Paper) and A Planet for Texas, Craig Dunson and Loopus from Pica Huss/Econothugs (per The Alive). Carabar has Nick Tolford, Rumba has The Spikedrivers, The Lost Revival is at Skully's, Matt Monta is at the Treehouse early, like maybe 8:30, and The Bush League All-Stars do the Ravari happy hour followed by a Hope for Haiti benefit ($5) with Two Cow Garage, The Phantods, Wet Darlings and Lydia Loveless among others. Proceeds go to Doctors Without Borders.

Saturday, The Drowsy Lads are at Byrne's, Andy Woodson is at Dick's and Hell's Fire Sinners are at Victorian's.

Monday, Jesse Henry and Dan Dougan join Jason Quicksall for Cowtown Round at Rumba.

Tuesday, Jesse Henry pops up again at Vic's with Joey Hebdo.

And every Wednesday, Chris Howes,, Columbus' premier jazz violinist, has been putting on real quality shows mixing jazz and vocal stuff at Dick's.

You're just a human. mark

P.S. If you are looking for a really good organization in Haiti to contribute to online, Partners In Health has been providing free health care to the poor in Haiti since 1985. info@pih.org

What's Up This Weekend?

Self-denial and frugality were ingrained in me during my lower middle-class upbringing by parents who grew up in the Depression. These days, I'm going to ridiculous measures sometimes to economize. Turning the heat off at night and during the work day has me living in the Polar Bear Clubhouse. I remember thinking that my orange fingertips felt a little numb as I tried to grasp a few more Baked Cheetos during lunch. I've allowed myself to become pretty much a prisoner of Giant Eagle. I've got to buy all my gas and food there with their credit card in order to maximize my food and fuel perks. When I misplaced the credit card, I avoided doing much shopping until it was replaced. So I went on a little shopping spree the day they mailed it to me but mid-spree I realized I'd forgotten to bring it. After a few moments of standing mid-aisle with my head in my hands, I decided I just couldn't bear to buy all that stuff without the card so I put myself on shopping rewind and replaced most of it. I felt so ridiculous and debased that I couldn't bring myself to work on the nightly valentine production line and just curled up with Keith, Rachel and the cats. See what you get when I have nothing else to write about?

Thursday, tonight, Rumba has El Jesus de Magico and Cheater Slicks The wardrobe closet at the Treehouse includes Ghost Shirt and Sundresses.

Friday, The Wet Darlings are at Rumba and Grassahol is at Dick's. The review of Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers in the Alive makes this show at The Summit sound interesting. Dottie and Clyde and Winter Makes Sailors are at Treehouse.

Saturday, Bourbon Street has Times New Viking, Flu Faker and Sandwich. Dick's has Brett Burleson. Columbus Alive has done a good job the last few years with their Bands to Watch show at Skully's and this year looks like another good one. Andrew Graham has been one of my favorite young artists in Columbus. He was the leader of RTFO Bandwagon and now he has produced a CD with the help of, among others, Chris Burney and Dane Terry. The project is called Swarming Branch and the musicians at this show are referred to as "a rotating cast of players". Nick Tolford and Company is definitely one of the best new bands I've heard recently. Saintseneca, Shin Tower Music and Struck By Lightning round the show out.

Sunday, Gene Walker is at Dick's.

Monday Rumba's Cowtown Round features Jesse Henry and Jenny Lute.

I want to fly like an eagle 'til I'm free

mark

What's Up This Weekend?

Having the COMFEST license plate gets me a certain amount of honks and waves. I'm pretty sure it was responsible this morning for the truck that pulled up next to me from which an unknown woman flailed her arms with hands full of the latest edition of the Columbus Free Press. In an obvious frenzy of journalistic activism, she wordlessly insisted on passing over about 10 copies to me at the red light. The cover features Obama dressed up like George Patton with the caption, "Hawk of the Year". Its not surprising that the Far Left ignored everything Obama has ever said about Afghanistan and turned on him the minute he decided not to pull every soldier out of there. I just finished a novel, "A Thousand Splendid Suns" that tells the story of two women living in Afghanistan during the past 25 or so years. Life for women under the Taliban is nothing short of a nightmare. Al Qaeda may not be there now in big numbers, but they would be if we left immediately. I don't claim to know what Obama should have done. I'm glad he has us pulling out of Iraq (I hope). I'm glad he took a long time to research his decision to give it one more try in Afghanistan. I voted for him because I thought he was smart and that he would change the way the world sees us. I'll read the Free Press article but I won't be handing them out on street corners because I'm trusting Obama on this one for now.

Thursday, tonight, for those of you brave enough to get out in a snow storm, Joey Hebdo and his Bismol Band are at Rumba with the Barn Owls and Mr. Carmel and the lovely little Italian restaurant, Giorgio's, has The Boki Quartet with Betsy Pandora.The Thirsty Ear has Couch Forts and both papers say Wonder Twin Powers but I don't believe it because Josh would have emailed me about it.

Friday, Josh did email me that Wonder Twin Powers will be at Treehouse, Rumba has Vug Arakas & the Stallions, Moon High and the Black Swans and The Basement has Alert New London. It's Elvis' 75th so The Randys and Sons of Gladys are at The Thirsty Ear.

Saturday, Fandys rejoice because The Randys will do another short set at The Elvis-a-thon at Skully's with Sons of Gladys, Wolfgang Parker, Ray Fuller, Hellsfire Sinners, Vegas 66, The Wahoos, Bob Sauls Band and, believe it or not, about 5 others. The Summit has The Wildbirds and This Is My Suitcase. Jookabox, Old Hundred and Bird & Flower are at a venue I'm unfamiliar with, Wild Goose Creative, 2491 Summit St.

Monday, maybe we will be able to dig our way out and see Jenny Flory (Wonder Twin Powers) at the Cowtown Round with Jason Quicksall.

I'm all shook up. mark