Astral Weeks - Van Morrison - Astral Weeks - 1968

Man, now that I am done writing about my epic drinking adventure across Europe, I have no idea what I'm supposed to write about on this thing...

I mean, I suppose I could actually talk about...you know, the music, but Jesus, Van Morrison is a bitch of a place to jump back in. I mean, sure...Van's the man and all, but there is so much godwill lost on the number of times you've heard Brown Eyed Girl at your local theme park. Granted Astral Weeks is about as far from that Van as you can get, but still...

I suppose I could talk about the fact that spring seems to have sprung, the sun is out the temperature is up and breasts and legs are back on the menu...but you've heard all that before.

I could mention that my parents and my brother are in town and that we went to Peter Luger's last night for my dad's birthday where we gorged on meat and my mom lost a tooth. Or the plan for the evening to get my brother drunk and laid tonight with the hipster skanks in Williamsburg.

But fuck it, it's a sunny friday and my brain is already out the door and my ass will soon follow. Semi-regular service to commence later.

Animal Farm - The Kinks - The Village Green Preservation Society - 1968

Last night, I met up with two of the guys I used to work with back in 2001. They are two of my best friends and I see them most weeks, so it's not like it was that rare of an event. But as we get older and our free time gets less, it is less often that the three of us hang out all together and without wives/girlfriends (in my case)/other friends present...and I think all three of us wanted a little moment. Much as we pretend to be gruff cynics...all of the reminders we got on the day couldn't help but make us think a bit about where we were 7 years ago.

At the end of a very very involved night of drinking, I split a cab back to Brooklyn with one of the two. Despite being in Alphabet City, we told the cab driver to take the battery tunnel so that we could swing down by the old site, where the twin light memorial was shining. We had lucked into a mini-van cab and it was definitely cool to lean back and look at the lights, with the moon caught between them, and think of happier times.

The Kinks knew a thing or two about Utopia...sadly, we seem further than ever from that kind of dream.

All Along The Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix - All Along The Watchtower Single - 1968

With all due respect to Mr. Dylan (and Neil Young, Bono, Eddie Vedder, etc, etc, etc), this is probably the definitive version of this song. Jimi just rocks it hard.