Random Thoughts on a Saturday night

Originally Posted Sept. 1, 2007:

I'm just hanging around on a Saturday night. I haven't written a blog in months and I don't feel like writing the book that's been in my head for years. My brain comes up with a lot of random useless ideas, but it's nice to share. Here they are:

I miss the Uncle Floyd show. It used to be on NJ Network in the 1980s and it was way ahead of its time. It influenced Howard Stern's channel 9 show with its low budget production values and crew members cracking up off stage. It's an iconoclast among tv variety shows with its great piano playing, campy skits, satire -- making it unlike any network comedy/variety shows.

This month and next month baseball will be on the brain. God, please get the Mets into the post season! Why can't Chipper Jones go 0-for-12 in a four game series against the Mets? He's dashed the hopes of Met fans for over a decade with clutch hitting. God likes to test the faith of Met fans. Yankee fans don't get tested this way because God doesn't care about them.

Does anybody really care about politics? I don't like anybody running for president in 2008. Does anybody know what we're voting on in November? Maybe it's a good thing the campaign this year is limited to after Labor Day.

Is there a more annoying song than "Safety Dance" by Men Without Hats?

Van Halen and Bruce are on the road again... Both are on tour. Van Halen is looking for a payday by bringing back David Lee Roth with tix selling for $50-$150 (Washington DC show). Bruce tix are going on sale for different spots starting September 8. I've always been less satisfied with big arena shows than catching a band in a club like the Stone Pony, the long gone Green Parrot in Neptune, and last but not least City Gardens in Trenton.

Arena shows with big bands are predictable, right down to the encores. I get more satisfaction watching the Stone Pony cutting the electric on Graham Parker after he played two encores at 2:45 a.m. That was pretty cool for $10 at the door for a spot 15 feet from the stage. How can the energy from the stage diving at a Fishbone show(performers included) be replicated by anything Bruce, Van Halen, or U2 in a big arena? What about the Vans Warped Tour with its 5 stages and 50 bands for less than $30. The musicians will even meet the crowd at their booths after their performance. When's the last time Mick Jagger spent time with fans? I'll probably pick up Bruce's new album (the first single reminded me of something The Smithereenswould do).

Good nite for now... Feel free to post equally random thoughts.