Since there was nothing to my liking on TV last night, I turned to another of the music tapes I made, #25, this one circa 2000. It had the typical eclectic mix from PBS shows, SNL, Leno, Letterman and the 1st annual Latin Grammys, which kicked off with a sizzling tribute to the mambo king, Tito Puente, who had recently passed away. It featured Ricky Martin, Celia Cruz, Gloria Estefan and an all-star lineup of musicians joined by actor Andy Garcia on bongos. The tape also featured the obligatory performance from Santana, this time doing I Ain’t Got Nobody. I never ceased to be amazed that all that percussion sounds precise and uncluttered. I enjoyed every segment of the two hours except the Go-Go’s, reuniting to perform Vacation on The Tonight Show. I’ve said this before: Sessions at West 54th was one of the greatest musical shows ever. I caught Moby at his percussive best, Chris Izaak rockin’ out to Bad Bad Thing; the Rollins Band in an all-out assault; and Iggy Pop, playing guitar seated, starting his set with the acoustic ballad I Got a Nazi Girlfriend. He’s about the only artist who can deliver something so offbeat in riveting fashion. During this period, the remake of Shaft was playing in theaters, and Isaac Hayes and company did a great rendition of its outrageous theme song on The Late Show. There was a hilarious moment during a Blue Man Group visit to Tonight. Mel Gibson was a guest, promoting The Patriot. At one point a member of the trio put a camera into Gibson’s mouth and kept it there for at least 30 seconds. It reminded me of the famous WC Fields dentist scene. If you’ve never seen that, please hunt it down. Anyway, I was surprised Gibson, infamous for his outbursts, didn’t slug the guy. It must have been prearranged. No one would have expected Madonna to be extraordinarily nervous about a performance at that point in her fabulous career, but she was, having recently learned to play guitar. She apologized beforehand to the audience in the Ed Sullivan Theater for any mistakes she might make. I didn’t see or hear any. She was excellent. As far as selecting a highlight, it wasn’t easy. I narrowed it down to Mark Knopfler’s beautiful What It Is, which I’d heard recently on one of the CDs I’ve burned for my car, and the Mavericks, fronted by Raul Malo, who are such a great live act. Here’s my choice. Enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk6fcGL1DI0
We can all use a good laugh these days, given the bleak headlines and the infuriating antics of our leaders. This was in the Weird But True section of today’s NY Post: “An impromptu peep show got these alleged perverts busted. Two moviegoers at a multiplex in Duluth, Ga., climbed into a drop ceiling above a women’s restroom to sneak peeks at the ladies. They were busted after the ceiling collapsed and they fell to the floor.” The image is so easily conjured.
I received notice from Verizon yesterday that they are raising the rate for its minimum DSL to $40. I was waiting for something like this to make the switch to Cablevision. I lost trust in Verizon while I still had a land line. On at least two occasions they included charges for features I'd never requested. When I wanted to replace their modem, which is more than ten years old, they said it would be $50. I declined. I’ve yet to regret making the move to cell only. I wonder if Verizon will sock me with a charge to disconnect. I will try to avoid an installation fee with CV, as they offered a free do it yourself option. I’m not good at the stuff, although I did fine with the DSL hookup. If all goes well, it will cost me ten bucks less per month.
The floating book shop continued its good luck on this spectacular spring day. As I was setting up, a woman with a lovely islands accent, who hadn't made a purchase in a while, stopped by with a younger woman who may have been her daughter, who bought Love Dreams, a romance novel by my literary angel, January Valentine. Michael donated ten books in Russian, several of which sold. I don't know why it is, but just about every Bible I sell is to a middle age black woman, and today was no different. And Alan made a purchase for the third time in about a week. Thanks, folks, and also to Ned, who last night tweeted that he left a box full of books
outside his house around the corner. I brought home around ten.
Vic's Third Novel (Print or Kindle): http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3
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