Music and fun and armadillos in the sun 

Music and fun and armadillos in the sun

The weekend was full of music and fun and sun. I loved it. On Friday the temperatures finally made it out of the 30. And we were grateful. We went down to San Marcos and wasted time. We had great plans that all fell through. We were going to go do a load of laundry and mary was going to go do some Yoga. While doing Yoga I was going to play Ms. Pacman at the Laundromat. I was actually looking fwd to it. The main item that we had to launder was the mattress cover on the futon mattress we got for the back of our truck. So, at the Laundromat, we try to take it off and realize it’s attached. Gross. That means we can’t take it off to wash it. Gross. That means we need to get some Lysol, and then a sheet to put on top of the sheet that’s on there. Can bed bugs crawl through another sheet layer? I don’t know. I hope not. Gross.

So that messed up our laundry plans. And by then, it was too late for Mary to go to Yoga. So we wasted a little time and came home. Then we went to a free concert for about 45 minutes. I was psyched that mary actually came with me. She didn’t hate it, but she didn’t like it either.

Saturday we had a pretty full day. And it was really fun. Every year Austin has an “Armadillo Holiday Bazaar”, which is one of the greatest things ever. In this huge warehouse type building they have dozens of vendors set up selling their homemade arts and crafts and jewelry and whatnot. AND they have food and beer and liquor. AND they have music. Real music. Good music. And it’s cheap—never more than $5. It’s super. If the arts and crafts stuff was actually in my price range, it’d be absolutely perfect. As it is, it’s pretty close. Especially for a boy like me and a girl like mary. I go watch the music. Mary goes and shops. And drinks. Perfect. Saturday a group I really wanted to see was there—Chip Taylor and Carrie Rodriguez. They were great. I’m psyched I got to see them. They were really cool, and really good. They’re a weird mix. Chip Taylor is this older guy—at least in his 50s. He’s been around forever. Back in the day he wrote a couple huge hits---a little song called “Angel of the Morning” and a monster song called “Wild Thing”. He basically lived off of those royalties for years, became a gambling addict, and gave up on the music biz for a long time. A couple years ago he met Carrie Rodriguez, who is really young—in her 20s, and he was instantly taken with her, and asked her to become his musical partner. And the rest they say is history. Wow. They’re really good. I’d never seen them before. Didn’t really know what they looked like. Mercy. Carrie Rodriguez is pretty hot. And can sing and play. It’s a lethal combination. And Chip has all the experience, and all the skills. They’re a great duo. Chip told a great story about “Angel of the Morning”, and how it had been a hit 3 times. And how the last time was by a rapper named Shaggy. He told how Shaggy changed some of the lines, and added a couple lines, one of which said “closer than my peeps you are to me”. Chip said he had no idea what that meant, but he met Shaggy, and said he was a really nice guy, and Shaggy explained that the line meant his woman was closer to him than even his friends. Fair enough. Glad Shaggy was a nice guy. And Chip probably made a ton of bucks off the song too. Chip and Carrie played all the songs that I wanted to hear them play, and they also played Wild Thing and Angel of the morning, which was super cool too. I totally love Angel of the Morning by Juice Newton. She belts it out. I remember when G and I discovered that song in college. G was scared to admit that he liked it, since we usually just listened to Hank and Waylon and the like. I told him there was no reason to be ashamed about liking that song. It was awesome. I had to go get the tape right away. I wish I had that tape here now…
Saturday night we cooked a meal over at RM’s and fed he and MK and MK’s kid. And RM made margaritas. And I made my triumphant return to the sweetness of alcohol. And I passed out at 9.30. It was awesome.

Yesterday we went for a hike in a state park. It was a totally boring state park, nothing like the Pedernales Falls park that we went to a couple weeks ago. This was pretty much like walking around in a field. None too exciting. But at least we got some exercise. And at least we actually got out in nature. And we did see 2 more real live armadillos. Armadillos are cool.

When we got back MK had his grill fired up, so he invited us over for burgers, and dogs and sausages. I was psyched. I love grilled burgers. As I bit in though I hit the dreaded object. Son of a whore. I forgot that MK puts onions in his burgers. Dang. I hate onions. Can’t stand them. Can’t understand why people put them in their burgers. So sad. It ruined the meal. I tried to eat around the onions, but it was loaded. So I ate a dog and a sausage. MK told us his conspiracy theory that Richard Ashcroft of the Verve Pipe, and now a solo artist, was really Mick Jagger’s son, and that’s why he became a star. The theory was so preposterous I couldn’t even respond to it. I just ignored it.

Then I took a nap, and then I went to a concert by myself. And I’m glad I did. Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers were playing for free. I’d heard good things about him, and new some of his songs from his old band the Refreshments. I didn’t know what to expect. Holy crap. It rocked. And it was awesome. I only caught the last part of his set, but that was just in time. I heard the Refreshments song that I know (I think it’s called Bandititos), and he followed that up with a cover of Tom Petty’s “American Girl”. A lethal doubleshot of rock. It was awesome.

Man, sometimes I forget how good Tom Petty is. For many many years I was the biggest TP fan in the world. In recent years as I’ve discovered old country and Americana and some other stuff, I don’t listen to Petty as much as I used to. But whenever I hear it I love it.
Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers were really good. Gruene Hall was more packed than I’ve ever seen it for one of their afternoon shows. It was a good time.

Except there were a lot of obnoxious people there. And the group in front me could not seem to refrain from actively participating in 2 of my main pet peeves.

I'll discuss that tomorrow.
Tune in then to find out what you shouldn't do at concerts or in daily life.