Sorry I’m Late (Again!)

I was up late (for me, anyway) listening to Phil last night, so I didn’t get out of bed until 5AM. And it only takes about 2 hours to feed everyone and clean up after them, etc., etc. (meaning, of course, CATS)…

And then, of course, I have to go back to bed with my cup o’ joe and then meditate.

And when that’s all done, I lie there and think: It’s my day off! I don’t want to get out of bed!!

But, eventually, of course, I need more coffee, so I get out of bed…

And now I’m here.

Me, as a brunette again but with no coffee

*************

The furnace guy is coming sometime this afternoon, which means I want to vacuum downstairs before he gets here, so that it doesn’t look like 723 cats live here.

I’m guessing those death-defying basement stairs will keep his mind off my many cats, though (yes, I’m getting a home improvement grant to get new basement stairs, but my mortgage is with the USDA RD, and as we know so well by now, the GOVERNMENT in DC has SHUT DOWN….. so no $$ until they go back to work). (Which means, I’m not getting anywhere near those stairs until they’re fixed, but furnace guys tend to be braver than me.)

[Just a reminder of what I don’t want to look like, with or without brown hair.]

Anyway.

Other than vacuuming, I guess I will be working at the laptop from my kitchen table until the furnace guy gets here. And I hate working from my kitchen table, so I hope he comes early (methinks I might be cranky today!!).

All righty!!

*********

Here’s this!

Another from Phyllis Stein’s Instagram page!

Lou & Rachel:

And here’s this — from Lou & Rachel’s heyday!! (I can remember so well, gang, being 15, in my new bedroom in our new house, listening to this awesome song on my stereo and, as always, dreaming of someday living in NYC and being a singer/songwriter…)

“Coney Island, Baby”, 1975, a great song from the great album of the same name!!

“Coney Island Baby”

You know, man, when I was a young man in high school
You believe in or not, that I wanted to play football for the coach
All those older guys, they said he was mean and cruel
But you know, I wanted to play football, for the coach
They said I was to little too light weight to play line-back
So I say I’m playing right-in
Wanted to play football for the coach
Cause, you know some day, man, you gotta stand up straight
Unless you’re gonna fall
Then you’re gonna die
And the straightest dude I ever knew
Was standing right for me, all the time
So I had to play football for the coach
And I wanted to play football for the coach
When you’re all alone and lonely in your midnight hour
And you find that your soul, it has been up for sale

And you getting to think about, all the things you done
And you getting to hate just about everything

But remember the princess who lived on the hill
Who loved you even though she knew you was wrong
And right now she just might come shining through
and the glory of love, glory of love
Glory of love, just might come through

And all your two-bit friends have gone and ripped you off
They’re talking behind your back saying, man
you are never going to be a human being
And you start thinking again
About all those things that you’ve done
And who it was and who it was
And all the different things you made every different scene

Ah, but remember that the city is a funny place
Something like a circus or a sewer
And just remember, different people have peculiar tastes
And the Glory of love, the glory of love
The glory of love, might see you through
Yeah, but now, now
Glory of love, the glory of love
The glory of love, might see you through
Glory of love, ah, huh, huh, the glory of love
Glory of love, glory of love
Glory of love, now, glory of love, now
Glory of love, now, now, now, glory of love
Glory of love, give it to me now, glory of love see you through
Oh, my Coney Island baby, now
(I’m a Coney Island baby, now)

I’d like to send this one out for Lou and Rachel
And the Lord appeared and he has one made of two
Coney Island baby
Man, I swear, I’d give the whole thing up for you

c- 1975 – Lou Reed

**************

And here’s Phil’s replay if you missed it last night. (The first 51 minutes is about the silver market — currently at $53.44 an ounce. The intel on Hegseth starts right after that.)

Hegseth – October 15th, 2025 (1hr )

************

As if life weren’t exciting enough!!!

It’s time for the Halloween sale over at Cave Things!!

Which gives you yet another chance to buy me that “Up Jumped the Devil” milk jug that I really, really love!! (And would love to have!!)

Only $55 right now (+ ($)trillions in US shipping):

And lest we forget — it’s named after one of my TOP 5 all-time favorite Nick Cave songs!!

*********

And in other semi-terrific Nick Cave news!!

New documentary ‘The Veiled World Of Nick Cave’ to explore his “enduring influence and unique impact”

Sadly, this is a one-off special “later this year” on SKY TV, which means that we will not be able to see it here in the Hinterlands…

Me, most days, but especially when I can’t see a Nick Cave one-off documentary on SKY TV.

************

BUT!!

Here’s the view outside my bedroom window this morning!! (I traded this view for living anywhere remotely near where I could access SKY TV.)

This is called a valley in the foothills of Appalachia, an average distance of 3,549 miles from SKY TV.

****************

And actually, I think that’s it for now.

I’m gonna tidy up around here, so that I can sit at my kitchen table and WAIT. But it’s still a day off, so that’s cool.

Enjoy your Thursday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

*****************

Okay, gang, I’m gonna leave you with this, because it popped up on my playlist while driving home yesterday.

Not only do I actually love this song, but it is the opening theme song to my in-progress screen-adaptation of Neptune & Surf (titled “Neptune Avenue”). Which takes place in Brooklyn & NYC in the 1920s and the 1950s. (I’m guessing that some day I’ll get enough time to finish the adaptation. We shall see.)

Oh, and lest you forget!! My primary inspiration for Neptune & Surf was Hubert Selby, Jr.s’ now classic novel, Last Exit to Brooklyn. And when my book came out (to incredibly wonderful reviews), I wrote to Hubert (nicknamed Cubby) to give him a copy of my book. And he wrote back, and afterwards we became friends until he died. From Cubby:

And here’s the theme song from “Neptune Avenue”.

“On the Sidewalks of New York”, written in I894. But this is Nat King Cole’s version, 1963. Enjoy, gang.

“On The Sidewalks Of New York”

East side, West side
All around the town
The tots sang ‘Ring-a-Rosie
London Bridge is falling down!’
Boys and girls together
Me and Mamie O’Rorke
Tripped the light fantastic
On the sidewalks of New York

Down in front of Casey’s
Old brown wooden stoop
On a summer’s evening
We formed a merry group;
Boys and girls together
We would sing and waltz
While the “Ginnie” played the organ
On the sidewalks of New York