And so it's come to this ...
My friend Mike Powers is a musician, a magician and a mathematician. We go back nearly 40 years, and do so every once in awhile by assembling some old reprobates for music and fellowship. It didn't make me feel old when he retired from teaching (math) and started concentrating on his magic -- he started teaching as soon as he graduated, so it's okay that he piled up enough years to retire.
But in an email, he writes: BTW – I’m playing in a rock band. It’s a blast. Our website is www.blackjack66.com. As you might surmise, our name is Blackjack 66. It’s difficult getting gigs these days. These blasted DJ’s don’t cost much and people seem to prefer just listening to their favorite tunes. We go over well at VFWs and places with an older crowd that likes to dance. It’s really fun to rock the joint and get everyone dancing.
Consarn it, it's a helluva thing when old rock-and-rollers have to go down to the danged VFW post and play for the old folks to get people who will rock out with them. We used to be the people our parents warned us about. Now we're just our parents.
On the other hand, I've got music from the band's website playing as I write this, and it ain't too bad. Y'know ... for a bunch of old guys ... (actually, it looks suspiciously like the band only includes ONE old guy ... )
The Jaguar we test-drove last week didn't impress us 'cause it had some embarrassingly old-looking - even for a 2000 model - features. One was a cassette deck, prominently featured in the middle of the dashboard. (A CD player had been installed in the glove box in the interim.)
ReplyDelete"On the plus side," I commented, "we would be able to play the only cassette tape we actually still listen to."
I believe you're familiar with it :)
ronnie
And indeed he is on that tape, at the end, playing bluegrass. The last get-together was in such horrific heat that the tape was ruined by the hum of the fans. Too bad. I was brilliant.
ReplyDeleteMike did okay, too.
"The last get-together was in such horrific heat that the tape was ruined by the hum of the fans."
ReplyDeleteWell, if you'd play original material you wouldn't have that problem - the fans couldn't hum along.