Tigers at Tampa Bay Rays (apparently they've lost the Devil)

The weekend was a bust noise-wise. Not that I'm complaining, trust me. Friday and Saturday were quiet, not because Crave has discovered how to be good neighbors, but because the weather was crappy. Sunday night was good, weather-wise, but I went out dancing, so I have no clue what they did that night. It was way past 2:30 a.m. when I got home. I need to give my neighbors the phone number to the Night Commander's desk of the police department, so when I'm not home (a rarity), they can call and complain.

The decibel reader meter doohickey is no good against the blasted radio control boats across the street. The thingie only reads noise level, not the high-pitched-ness of the bloody boats. Schneider told me he's made signs so that we can picket them. Apparently the signs read "Go home!" and "Leave us in peace." I figure I better find out if we can do that or if we need a permit. We don't need tickets. I moved into these apartments back in 1989, so we're going on 18 years of this crap and it's only getting worse. Back in the beginning, I only remember them on the weekends. This 7-day a week, all freaking day crap is wearing on all of us. Today I sat outside to decibel check them out and they barely reached 79 which I'm sure isn't loud enough to complain, but as I walked in the front door, I flipped them off. Yeah, I know, it was an exceptionally mature thing to do, but I'm telling you, they SUCK!!!

I learned something important this morning (let's hope I remember). After you apply Icy Hot to the various areas of your body that are sore because you're really too damn old to be out dancing for five straight hours and wipe your hands with a tissue, the best thing to do is THROW THE TISSUE OUT!!! For some reason, I left it on my desk and then went to the restroom to wash my hands. When I got back to my desk, my allergies were acting up, so I grabbed a tissue and blew my nose. Yup, you guessed it. I grabbed the tissue with Icy Hot on it. Talk about clearing out your sinuses. I highly recommend NOT doing that.

Sunday mornings as I get ready for church, I listen to Time Warp on 89X with Christina. Last Sunday she announced that she was going to be spinning at my old bar Memorial weekend Sunday. I called DWD & Miss Anne to see if they were up for it. DWD said it depended on family obligations as he had been out of town on business for almost two weeks straight and he's pretty responsible for his mother and his grandpa. Miss Anne took a few days to get a hold of, but when I did, she had a nasty cold, so I didn't expect her to make it. Sure enough, her cold got worse and DWD was busy with family stuff, so I went alone, knowing that Pamela was definitely going to be there. I got there right at 9:00 as I like to dance on a non-crowded dance floor.

What is it about gay men and dance remixes? Christina's DJ partner is gay and bloody hell, he loves ten minute dance remixes. I friggin' hate them!!! If a song is a three minute song, there is no reason on earth it needs time filled with some lame bassline added to it. To me that does not make it more danceable. In fact, I become bored with the beat and keep wishing for the song to end. Now, mind you, I'm not adverse to dancing to long songs, one of my favorites is This Corrosion by The Sisters of Mercy and it's almost 12 minutes long, but it's not the same beat for five minutes!

Now, if you're a DJ and you're being paid to do an 80s night, it might be nice to have updated your collection. I got there right at 9:00 in order to ask for Atmosphere by Joy Division which the old DJ (a good friend) simply refused to play. He said it was too slow and nobody would dance to it. My argument was always, nobody is going to dance at this hour but me anyway!!! Why not play what I want? But he never did. I figured I'd try this DJ, for all the good it did me. So, I ask and he said, "I only have that on vinyl." *sigh* I sit for a few seconds and then ask for Madame Butterfly by Malcolm McLaren. "I only have that on vinyl." ARGH!!!

He was playing some bloody DePeche Mode remix (mind you, I love DePeche Mode, it's the remix issue), but I went out there and started to dance. The next song was a remix and I'm bored dancing to it, but I'm there to dance. I came up with songs that I thought he might have (Echo & the Bunnymen, Higher Hell or The Cutter, Bauhaus, Love & Rockets, Go! by Tones on Tail, and No Pain, No Slogan). While I'm writing them down, a guy walks up and says "Hey! For old times sake, can you play Swamp Thing?" I nodded and said, "Yes, that'll work." in agreement. Guess what the answer was. Yup, only on vinyl.

Within a few songs, he plays No Pain, No Slogan, so I can't complain too much, right? Christina shows up by 10:00 (not that I knew what she looked like before that night) and starts her set with Isolation by Joy Division, followed by Dominion/Mother Russia by The Sisters of Mercy and then a few more songs. I was dancing my little heart out! Then she blew it with a New Order song. I will dance to crap I hate to save my spot on the dance floor, because, in case you couldn't figure it out, it's all about dancing. I figured out though that I could leave the stage and still get my spot back, so I went over to talk to her. That morning she had talked about the Ian Curtis (lead singer/lyricist of Joy Division) movie that premiered at Cannes last week and I wanted to talk to her about it. I told her about the book I had just finished and she was intrigued enough about it to write the title down.

A bunch of old friends showed up and it was a good night. I literally danced from 9:05 to 2:00 a.m. (that included two nasty New Order songs - don't ask me, I have no clue) and a whole lot of great stuff. I've always bitched that it seems that Christina plays the same stuff every Sunday morning which is ridiculous when you realise she's working with the years (1977 to 1990-something), but she did such a great job on Sunday night that I might have to cut her some slack. At the end of the night, she thanked me for the tip on the book and I thanked her for the great dancing.

I just hope my muscles give up their bitching soon, because I haven't slept well the last two nights I'm in such pain. One of these days I will figure out that I'm too old to dance like I used to, but not yet. I might be moaning and groaning all day long, but it was totally worth it.