I was a student living in the Tampa area. I had a 1 BR on the same street as the brewery entrance to Busch Gardens in the early ‘80s. I pretty much knew everything—I had it ALL figured out as far as God, government and drivin’ through the mud and sand. Back then empty lots and undeveloped parcels still existed around the Tampa area. There was a gas station/cheap beer store across from the north entrance to the apartments where I lived. There was a soft trail that was a short

I have played with the same bass players for years at a time. For example, Brent and I were in the Photons for 12 years or so. We had a few side guys but we had a lot of drummers over those years. My previous drummer, Kelly (RIP), was running Cadillac Jack’s, a.k.a. Grad House, City Limits, on the Mims/Titusville no man’s land. He had hired the Photons for a five-night stand through an agency. Our band, Martial Law, had recently imploded. Having nothing else to do, I helped

It starts with a sickly, warm gust that smells like dusty, dry, hot soil, dead seaweed and whatever other scents the downburst has picked up in its rush across the surface of the Earth. The song stops immediately. A lot of cursing and a mad dash to secure the most sensitive (expensive) gear ensues. Flaps get dropped around the sides and back. The front of the stage is wide open. It is difficult to secure that large of an opening with a tarp—the wind rips the eyelets right ou

I’ve never been good at toeing the line. I’ve always been too sloppy, clumsy or inebriated. I can’t draw a straight line, much less cut anything straight. It’s hard to walk straight on a crooked highway. I was hanging out with a bartender and her family. They were recent transplants from up north and had very different customs than my upbringing. Grandma was into the whole Catholic, Virgin Mary weirdness… There were statues depicting the ladies of Fatima, Lourdes and Guadal

I don’t remember how old I was the morning my parents forgot to put a coin under my pillow for a baby tooth. I was still naive enough to believe in the tooth fairy. Why not? They told me all of these stories about Santa, Leprechauns, the Easter Bunny, ghosts, haunted houses, evil spirits, God and Jesus and all the associated fallen angels. That morning, when I looked under my pillow and saw nothing, my prepubescent heart sank. I searched all around the bed—I had been forgott

Used to be I had so much work that I often played 10 gigs a week now I’m lucky to work 4-5 nights a week. Unfortunately, the arthritis and heart palpitations make it impossible for me to play much more than 3 hours or so, fuckin’ old wuss. I’m not grumpy, I’m aggravated. I know what is just around the corner. The toilet roll is running low and one case of explosive diarrhea and its game over. I’ve lived the kind of life that you can’t retire from. There’s only the end. In

The first working band I can remember being in had many incarnations as do most bands. The bass player, Rick, lived in Mims, Fl. He had been playing with a guitar player that regarded playing music mostly as a hobby and not even his first choice come hunting season. I was in a transitional phase in life as I realized I no longer possessed the will to be a company man. I was put off by the, it’s not what you know but who you know, aspect of a real job. I thought the adult wo

It has been more than a challenge trying to adapt to our new situation. This hasn’t been one of those look back in a few years and it will be funny moments. No, this has been a painful transition not a beautiful metamorphosis into something greater than our previous existence. Worse for me, I need space or at least some quiet time to collect my thoughts enough to write, rehearse and masturbate when necessary to clear my mind (it doesn’t take long and the mess is minimal thes

I knew what I was giving up when I decided to follow my muse instead of the life that had been presented to me. The majority of my fellow musicians eventually acquiesced to the grind sooner or later. I had already tried it the “proper” way and I kept getting laid off from electronics jobs due to lack of work. All of the recently laid off would gather at a local watering hole and put on a brave face. Getting laid off the week before Xmas was a hard pill to swallow

My buddy's birthday was coming up and he had decided to party pretty hard. We’ll call him Charles for this post. Charles wanted to get a 1/4 ounce of the pink flake that had been going around for a buck fifty a g(ram). He also wanted to get a QP (1/4 pound) of weed to go with the keg of beer. He wanted the GOOD stuff. You see, every now and then, this lime green bud with red hairs, no seeds (sinsemilla) and a great high would come to town very much like the song Panama Red

It was all precious memories, keepsakes and heirlooms… After three days of moving, it became stuff, crap, junk and finally just SHIT! As in where /what am I going to do with it all? I paid good money for some of it or someone else did. I hate to throw away perfectly good crap, or pieces and parts that MIGHT come in handy some day. Somehow it got heavier, couldn't be me getting weaker. I don’t have the budget to rent a storage unit as I know it will be out of sight, out of m

The Good Health Clinic has been my primary health advocate for a number of years now. I am one of the pathetically uninsured that exist in the upper Keys. They help fill the cracks of an imperfect system. They have come to my rescue when I was unable to work. They connected me with MCVI (Miami cardiovascular Institute) who performed two ablation procedures. And it's much more than just the procedures. It's all the echocardiograms, blood work ups, MRI’s and what not as wel

I walked in the store, passing the tables full of baked goods and sweet treat specials, into the fruit and vegetable section to grab healthy crap, like bananas and apples. One thing I noticed was the price of beer and soda has increased exponentially in the last 6 years since I cut those types of beverages from my routine. Especially the good beer. I still have the occasional soda pop, but I had my last beer on my birthday in 2020. No more fun stuff of any kind for me. Mari

I sometimes get impatient with the baby dog stopping to sniff gross stuff every 5 feet. My body doesn't start and stop on a dime so easy anymore and it's hard to hit my target heart rate at that pace. I usually give her the 1st mile to take her time so that she can check and leave scent messages for her canine friends(aka pee mail). I like walking in the sunshine which is a good thing considering where we live. I never enjoyed working out. For what was a brief time in high s

It brings the welcomed return of some of our regular winter visitors as well as the cold, flu and other nasty things that accompany them. I've been fighting a cough and sinus pressure. It's amazing how much mucus the human body can manufacture, I don't even produce that much semen anymore... Add to that, longer travel times, seasonal pricing, longer lines for everything and slower internet speeds. Even the cellular networks bog down this time of year. Gawkers are the biggest

What sucked me in to using ChatGPT, was that when I was a kid watching Star Trek, they talked to the computer like it was another crew member. Even though they tried to make it sound mechanical in certain episodes, they still spoke to it as if it was cognizant of their language, without having to speak specific commands. They asked it to solve theoretical problems in loose scientific terms at best. They didn't have to spend hours typing away at it, trying to speak its languag

I went to elementary school in Tight- ass- ville, Florida. The school I attended would've been an entirely white school pretty much except for they bussed the black kids from across town to the school I attended. They had closed all the black schools and they were now forced to leave their neighborhoods and the schools that were in walking distance to their homes, to come to school with us. I imagine it might've been exciting for them except for the fact that there was a lot

Don’t be a person who can’t understand normal thinking.

I should feel blessed and grateful that I have access to Medical Marijuana. It was a long fight just to be able to smoke “flower.” I use quotes because that is a relatively new term on me used for bud. In 2017, then governor Rick “dick with ears” Scott ignored the voters wishes and limited medical marijuana to vapes and concentrates only- NO BUD! More litigation was required before the state finally accepted the will of the people. And when I say it was a long fight, I joined

Life on planet Earth or at least that's what we the inhabitants are calling it these days. Now you may wonder if I'm talking about life,...