Judy's Turn

TV on the Radio

I went to visit my niece in Manhattan years ago (pre 9/11) and she took me to a bar in the Lower East Side called The Chicken Head or something like that. We were the only customers in the bar, but the bartender was her old friend from high school, Jaleel. We had a great evening hanging out at the bar and I remember looking out at a cool view of the Brooklyn Bridge and having a good conversation with Jaleel, who was quite good looking and also breaking into the music scene.

Yesterday, a bunch of my nieces and nephews were together for a surprise birthday party in LA and one thing led to another, and I asked how Jaleel was doing. I heard that he was pretty much a rock star these days and was the drummer in the  band TV on the Radio.

So I got home tonight and told my daughter, who is a senior in high school, that I knew the drummer in a pretty cool band. When I told her the name of the band she jumped out of her prone and listless position on the couch and screamed "I LOVE THEM! I'VE BEEN LISTENING TO THEM FOR A YEAR AND I JUST SAW THEM AT THE TREASURE ISLAND FESTIVAL!" This was a significant statement because she hasn't said that many words to me with such emotion since she asked me to sign her up for driver's ed lessons 3 years ago. I'm a pretty cool mom tonight.

Thanks Jesse. Thanks Jaleel. 

So What If I Only Have 8 Contacts In My Address Book?

A couple of nights ago some great friends took us to see Leo Kottke perform. Judy Collins was the headliner, but I was really looking forward to hearing Kottke. Collins is smart and witty with a voice that seemed unchanged through the years. Kottke took a while to warm up, but he still sounds great.

While strumming his guitar he told us that his manager had instructed him to talk more to the audience during his performances. He filled us in on some of the songs we were hearing and then out of the blue started telling us that he had accidentally sent a virus to all the people in his computer's address book. Feeling a bit guilty about that, he decided he should let them know. Unable to figure out how to do a mass mailing while keeping the identities of the recipients secret, he decided to write each person individually. He was prepared for this to take quite a long time, but was done in an hour. It turns out he had only 8 contacts in his address book. He said that he loves what he does (playing and performing) so much that he only has time for 8 contacts. For a guy who had to be told to talk to the audience, he was pretty funny. And I'm betting that those 8 contacts mean a lot to him. Something about less being more, I guess.

Big Brothers

I've got to include a You Tube video that my brother sent to me. As soon as I started watching it, I was reminded that many years ago, he taught all the younger siblings in the family that the lyrics to the Beatles, "I Saw Her Standing There" went like this:

She was just 17,

And her teeth were so green,

And the the way she walked was way beyond compare.

Oh I wouldn't dance with her mother,

Cause she had purple hair.

It's not surprising that he loved this Joe Cocker clip.