Candy on the honor system

I bustled home rather busily tonight and when I finally got a chance to get the mail I was greeted on the front porch by a table with a big bowl of candy on it, as well as a rather large and what seemed to me quite grown woman helping herself to it. "Are you having a nice Halloween?" She asked. We exchanged rather awkward pleasantries as I, for the most part, tried to fathom this novel approach to the candy distribution system. The nice people on the third floor must have thought it up. To borrow the tagline to those Guiness commercials...BRILLIANT! Living on the first floor I've been answering the door the last few years and handing out the candy. Who knew candy on the honor system would work? I added the candy I'd accumulated in preparation for the occasion (the Kit Kat bars went fast) to the dish and thus thoroughly discharged my duty to the night. Part of me felt it was a bit of a gyp not answering the door to the familiar "Trick or Treat!" though, now that I think about, that little tradition seems to have gone the way of the Long Playing Record - kids nowadays just stand there, gape mouthed, waiting for the loot. It was nice to sit in the comfort of my chair and listen to the excited discoveries of our chocolaty treasure trove, watching TV, doing the crossword, and otherwise enjoying a night of guilt free relaxation. Genius!

First snow

How pretty it was to watch the large flakes of snow fall. Twilight tonight brings a fine picture of heavy snow on bending branches, the leaves looking somewhat chagrined to have overstayed their welcome, and a fine glop of snow/slush on the pavement. Time to dig out the winter boots and enjoy this first taste of the season.

Heat

This morning I finally broke down and turned the heat on. I always wait until it gets unbearably cold before adjusting the thermostat...I am that reluctant to give up on the warmth which we of late took so for granted. The first warm air that works its way through the system always has a strange smell to it, I imagine the furnace flames burning all the dust that's settled through the season of its inactivity...a Viking funeral for summer's ephemera. I enjoy that smell for reasons I can't explain. Maybe it's just the thrill of change. One small luxury I enjoy is a heating vent in my bathroom right next to the toilet. Though I have rather modest accommodations I do enjoy through the cold months a toasty warm toilet seat. It's the small pleasures you know.

Oh Dad Poor Dad Momma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm So Sad

I just found out Nora Jones is Ravi Shankar's daughter. I saw Ravi Shankar in concert years ago, he opened for George Harrison. This was a hot ticket at the time, we lined up the night before the tickets were to go on sale at the old Boston Garden. At some point they decided to just let us in and we spent the night roaming around the joint, which was an unforgettable experience. God it was a dump, but a lovable dump. We finally got great seats right up front. On the night of the concert Ravi opened...bear in mind he is considered a genius in his field although Sitar playing is not exactly a widely appreciated art in these precincts. Sadly he was roundly booed and variously harrassed by an impatient dunken Garden crowd. I believe George came out at one point to admonish the great unwashed, which caused only a stir of druggy confusion and anger. It was sad. So he's Nora Jones dad? I thought she was just some normal person from nowheresville who made the scene based upon her own native talent. Oh well, whatever.

E = MC something

So, I was watching Curb Your Enthusiasm on DVD when who should make an appearance but Super Dave, the guy with the stunt man schtick who used to appear on Letterman. I always loved him, he was the master of the deadpan delivery. Plus he's Albert Brooks brother. But I'd never seen him without his hat on...he looked weird. Was that really him? The credits rolled and, yes, I recognized the last name; Einstein. Bob Einstein. I knew that because one of my favorite lesser known facts is that Albert Brooks' real name is Albert Einstein. Can you believe it?

Blah Sox

Frankly I'm just glad it's over. Any team that executes a perfect sacrifice bunt in the top of the ninth for the insurance run...well that's just good baseball and they deserve to win.

The Stand Up

We had entertainment of a sort on the Red Line this morning. A guy got on at Central and started talking to himself real loud. It sounded at first like a potential stand up comedy routine, "What has ever come out of Texas besides cattle and crooked politicians? Just wondering." This was followed by philosophical/political musings "Hamilton was right, the masses are idiots. And it kills me to say that." A girl sitting in front of me doing the crossword found it all amusing and caught his eye. Soon, however, he was turning on his audience "We're all slaves to the pharaoh. Shut up slave and dance like you're supposed to." I guess that's what the slaves in ancient Egypt did in between building the pyramids. The crossword girl and I did start cracking up at the absudity of it all. It seems we were all idiots, we don't question things, we just do what Bush tells us to do. "You stay up at night wondering 'why do they call us ugly Americans...'" "All you care about is reality TV and the Red Sox." It's not as if I found anything he said offensive, but he kept insisting it was satire. Satire, sadly, requires wit...which is why not everyone is good at it. He was just ranting, but it was among the more entertaining rants I've heard on the subway. He finally de-trained with the line "Have a bourgeois day." Hey, you have a bourgeois day too.

Black Sox

Ok, I can see Tony Graf letting the ball dribble underneath his glove...but what was with the little mime-move toss to second? Excuse me but, there's no miming in baseball.

October 2

Today dawned bright and beautiful. Not a cloud in sight, warm as a mid-summer day yet retaining that invigorating crispness of early autumn. A perfect day to stay inside and watch football? Jeez, what a mistake.

October 1

I ended up going out to the Joshua Tree to watch the end of the game. After the Red Sox lost every conversation went something like this" "So if Cleveland wins tomorrow...", "But if the Red Sox win...""Look, he's crying, " referring to Joe Torre. "But if we win and Cleveland wins...or if they lose..." I have no idea what the fuck. The goddamn mathematicians are in charge now. But Joe Torre is cool, that much I know. (Blogger spellcheck wants to replace "Torre" with "torah. " Ok, he's cool enough but not that cool.)

October

Another week for the books. Stuff happened I guess, can't remember (I'll pretend). Today is a perfect Fall day, waiting for the cable guy.
I started off with the new Sonny Rollins CD, the 9/11 concert (recorded in Boston - yay). It was actually bootlegged by some guy with microphones sewn in his shirt, they decided to use it to fulfill Sonny's contract obligations. Sonny lived near ground zero and so was quite affected by 9/11. He was photographed being evactuated carrying his saxaphone. The concert is comfort music, returning to his favorite old time songs. Sonny is notoriously inconsistant (So I've read, I've never actually been a big fan...his genius rarely surfaces in the recording studio and I've never seen him live) but he seems to be in fine form here.
Now I'm on to Van Morrison. Can't miss.
I have plenty of cold beer and the Red Sox game coming up. Red Sox - Yankees...for all the marbles, classic.