Happy 250th, America!

And that said, of course — it’s still nothing like how the Bicentennial was.

But back then, there were only 3 network TV stations, 2 or 3 UHF TV stations per State. A bunch of radio stations, but we listened to them all the time. National magazines, daily newspapers — we were all reading them.

Everybody, regardless of politics, was on the same page regarding the Bicentennial 4th of July. It was exciting and really FUN.

Now everything is too spread out and watered down and hard to keep track of. Not to mention, no one having their fireworks on the actual 4th…

But here’s this, regardless:

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Okay!

Wow, yesterday wound up being a really nice day. That new client I have on Fridays is just such a treasure. Plus, she has 2 huge white German Shepherd dogs that are just adorable and they want to be wherever you are at all times:

THEM (at all times); “Hi! It’s me!!”

And today, I’m spending 7 hours with the retired Chaplain — and some of her kids and grandkids will be coming over later to celebrate the 4th of July. So it should be another really good shift.

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And since I didn’t post yesterday, I have a TON of “here’s this’s” so let’s get started!!

Here’s this!!

On July 2nd, it was the heavenly birthday of another one of my favorite writers:

Hermann Hesse!

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And yesterday, was Kafka’s heavenly birthday!!

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And yesterday was the anniversary of the death of Brian Jones.

I tell you, it really moves me that so many people still adore Brian Jones. He has tribute sites all over Instagram. He has been dead since July 3rd, 1969. (If you’re too young to know who he was, he was the founder of the Rolling Stones.)

Brian’s gravesite yesterday, in Cheltenham, Wales:

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And here’s this!

From Steve Vai — onstage with a full moon. Photo by his wife!

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And here’s this!

Tom Petty and Prince, onstage honoring the induction of the late George Harrison in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame–

And in case you were doing something else that night back in 2004– it really was incredible —

Prince, Tom Petty, Steve Winwood, & More “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” | Rock Hall 2004 Induction:

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And speaking of great nights–

Here’s this!!

Keith, tuning up backstage at Madison Square Garden in NYC, on July 26th, 1972. That night was Mick Jagger’s 29th (!!) birthday:

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This poem by the late poet Jack Gilbert, was posted on the Poetic Outlaws substack page the other day. I just loved it:

The Lost Hotels of Paris
Jack Gilbert

The Lord gives everything and charges
by taking it back. What a bargain.
Like being young for a while. We are
allowed to visit hearts of women,
to go into their bodies so we feel
no longer alone. We are permitted
romantic love with its bounty and half-life
of two years. It is right to mourn
for the small hotels of Paris that used to be
when we used to be. My mansard looking
down on Notre Dame every morning is gone,
and me listening to the bell at night.
Venice is no more. The best Greek Islands
have drowned in acceleration. But it’s the having
not the keeping that is the treasure.
Ginsberg came to my house one afternoon
and said he was giving up poetry
because it told lies, that language distorts.
I agreed, but asked what we have
that gets it right even that much.
We look up at the stars and they are
not there. We see the memory
of when they were, once upon a time.
And that too is more than enough.

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And here’s this!

Flannery O’Connor at home, sitting under a self-portrait:

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And here’s a re-enactment of something that blew my mind. Truly, gang.

Yesterday, for some reason my attention was drawn to these books on a shelf in my family room:

Bob Dylan’s Chronicles, Volume One, jumped out at me.

I loved that book! But he never wrote Volume Two!!

I know the book has been out a long time now, and I clearly remember reading it when I lived, briefly, in Easton, Pennsylvania. Was the book really published that long ago?

I pulled it off the shelf. I’d forgotten it had that cool vintage photo of Times Square on the cover!! (My old stomping ground in my early days as a folksinger in NYC, when I was married to Chong and we lived one block from Times Square.)

When I opened the book, to see when it was published, I found this written on the title page and I was absolutely astounded.

The book had been a gift to me back in 2004 from Patrick Thomas, a journalist who occasionally wrote for Rolling Stone.

I had totally forgotten this.

Wow, gang. What a thing to discover in one of my favorite books. I hadn’t opened that book in 22 years…

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Okay.

Here’s this!

From Nick Cave Official!! Get ready for Brighton, gang!

Gates will open at 13:00 at Preston Park on 31st July.

SET TIMES
13:00 Gates
13:30 – 14:15 Warmduscher
14:45 – 15:30 Cate Le Bon
16:00 – 16:45 English Teacher
17:30 – 18:30 The Flaming Lips
19:30 – 22:00 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Please allow plenty of time to enter the site.

13:00 – 15:00 Best time to arrive

15:00 – 17:00 Expect the gates to be busy and short queue times

17:00 – 19:00 Expect gates to be very busy with longer queue times

Outside of the official lineup, there is lots going on at Preston Park from 1pm including; food and drink with over 15 bars and 50 stalls, DJs throughout the day, exclusive Brighton merchandise, an Arcade Treasure Hunt with a range of prizes, chillout zones, a Bad Seeds Fish & Chips van and more.

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And here’s more Bad Seeds stuff!

Blixa looking happy backstage, Nick Cave — not so much!!