I'm assuming that the reason that the increased number of people who wish to be removed from this list is directly related to the fact that I rarely get to anything related to The Blue Band until the second or third paragraph or they see themselves as insulted by my remark about the appearances of some of the people I see shopping at WalMart. I don't want to lose anymore people, so let me start by saying there is no Blue Band gig this week. Or next week. Or the week after that. Unless you're finally going to break down and hire us for that spring deck party at your mansion on the outskirts of town (come on, we only need 10-15 couples with a hundred dollar bill and WE'RE THERE BABY!!) We kick off the summer festival season on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend (5/30) at the North Liberty Centre's Blues and BBQ Festival, featuring all Iowa acts including BF Burt & The Instigators, Dennis (the Daddio) Mc Murrin, Craig Erickson, and The Blue Band. We play 6-7:30pm, It's billed as being rain or shine and is FREE of charge to get in. Need more info on that? try www.northlibertyiowa.org/bluesandbbq/activities.html. What's not to like about Iowa bands, barbecue, and FREE? Right Avis? And as far as WalMart is concerned, I have not returned since being rejected for Reason 88. What the hell IS Reason 88? My friend Jerry Grady (who's retiring from his producer/director job at IPTV) says I must have REALLY screwed up if they're using the ol' Reason 88 excuse. Now Reason 24, I could see that, but Reason 88, I DIDN'T DO IT!! I was framed. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. Or is that a wad of used bubble gum that I just sat on? YIKES, either way, it's a sticky situation that neither of us want to really get into...
Remember when Johnny Carson used to describe some of his monologs as Peaks & Valleys? (if you don't remember Johnny Carson, let alone the Peaks & Valleys description, you're either too young to be reading this note OR your dementia is worse than mine) Well, my week has been one of those Peaks & Valleys series of episodes. I started in a Valley. Remember 14 months ago when I got a root canal? Which evolved into a root fusion? Which evolved into a partial root amputation? Well, I'm done with that now because the tooth died and was extracted Monday afternoon. Must have been all that CAKE! Then Tuesday I climbed to a Peak when the installation of the new stairs in my house was completed. That means we're on to the electrical installation, drywall and finally resumption of normal sleep habits. Except for some minor replacement of siding on the old part of the house, the exterior is pretty much done. Except for one thing that became the Valley of Wednesday. We got nearly 2.75 inches of rain right here in Sparkle City, mostly between 4:15pm-10:30pm. This is not a good thing if the only thing that is not finished on the exterior of the house is the lack of installing gutters. Combine this with the fact that there is currently only dirt, no grass, in the front yard because of all the construction trucks and the replacement of the sidewalks and all of a sudden the 2.75 inches of rain became 2.75 inches of standing water in the basement rooms where I live. While my wonderful wife endured back pain filling up the wet-vac four times (we're talking 16 gallons of muddy water) I was out in the rain trying my best to divert the water that was cascading down the new sidewalk and creating a small scale version of Lake Michigan in the front of my house. Then the lightning started. And I was reminded of all the times I heard my dad say "you're more likely to get hit by lightning than winning the lotto." And since I've never won the lotto, I immediately knew I was in trouble. So now, the $1400 worth of new carpeting that I had installed last Fall on the stairs, (remember, there's now NEW stairs, so the old stairs, with the new carpet, are in the landfill) in the hall (where the wet-vac sucked up 16 gallons of muddy water) and in my bedroom (which now is an island) will probably have to be removed. Wednesday was definitely a valley. It's 3am Friday morning and I'm STILL trying to dry out that carpet. But I'm headed to another Peak. Today's forecast is for sunny (BLUE) skies and a 20mph wind which will aid in drying out the place. Let's break out the CAKE and celebrate!...
On a completely different note. If you want to be hip to the latest happenings in the world of blues but you only want to spend 90 minutes a year to get that hipness, you should listen to my Blue Avenue radio show this Sunday evening (5-6:30p) on Iowa Public Radio. It's a recap of the Blues Music Awards that were presented by the Blues Foundation on May 6 and the latest music by the award winners. There's a better chance than getting hit by lightning that you'll dig the show. Try it, feel the electricity...
The contractors have become inspired by their own success and now regularly show up before 7:30am. Someday I'm going to have to teach them the Bo Diddley beat so they can pound out the rhythm to Willie & The Hand Jive while driving those nails. There probably won't be a Blue Note next week. I'm wishing you many more Peaks than Valleys as you drive the Blue Highway, keep rubbin' that washboard tie, always have yer gutters up in a rain storm, thanks to everyone who responded about the problems we had sending out the note last week, we're about 25 seconds away from finding out if we fixed it (let me know if yer gettin it more than once (!), keep yer CAKE in a dry place and always remember we love you. Bob Dorr & The Blue Band
