Last night my spouse and I joined out-of-town visitors at a local casino for dinner and drinks — LOTS OF DRINKS. TOO MANY DRINKS. It was fun, but man am I paying for my fun this morning, even after sleeping way later than usual.

Before going out last night I did lay the foundations for a SEEN AND HEARD roundup. I’ve picked the music, uploaded cover art, installed the usual links, and made some notes that might turn into sentences. It’s possible I will eventually feel well enough to finish and post it, but if that happens it will be much later in the day than usual. It’s also possible I’ll finish it and wait until Sunday to post it.

Which brings me to another issue. Continue reading »

(written by Islander)

That photo up there was my view of last night’s sunset from the deck of an Air BnB on Whidbey Island in Washington’s Puget Sound. I’m here for a reunion of some old friends, most of whom I haven’t seen since we made this same trip a year ago. I’ll be going back home tomorrow afternoon.

Last night was a late night, loaded up with alcohol and talk. That made for a late wake-up this morning, and I’m one of only two people in our group of seven who are awake yet at this point. I briefly thought about pulling together at least a brief roundup of new music, but my rumbling stomach and fuzzy head convinced me that pumping my skull full of loud noise wouldn’t be a great idea. Continue reading »

Today the three oldest of old-timers around here (Andy Synn, DGR, and myself) will be making our way toward the California coast to attend a wedding on Sunday of some dear friends, one of whom used to write for NCS. As a consequence, we have nothing planned for the site today, and it’s unlikely I will write the usual weekend columns either.

In a certain demographic at the wedding, including the bride and groom, there will be a lot of metalheads. In the other demographic groups, probably not so much. The entrance and exit music at the ceremony probably won’t include Slayer or Metallica. Probably little or no metal at the wedding reception either, even if someone could find metal that people could dance to. Mosh pits or a wall of death would be fun to see but that probably ain’t happening.

I did look for live music in the area on Saturday night, which we will have to ourselves. I found a karaoke night at an American Legion hall. But hell, it will be better to shoot the shit with friends anyway, lubricated by a few adult beverages. Continue reading »

In the United States, today is Memorial Day, a national holiday. Here, it marks the unofficial beginning of summer and is typically a time of social gathering and celebration. This year its celebratory aspects are even greater, because many of the pandemic-related restrictions on social activity have been lifted. People are traveling by air and car at levels not seen since March of last year. Bars and restaurants are packed. So are parks and beaches.

I don’t want to pour cold water on any of this, but the Memorial Day holiday was not established as a day of celebration. It was created as a day of remembrance and mourning of American military personnel who died in the performance of their duties. In its earliest incarnation after the Civil War, it was called “Decoration Day”, because mourners honored the Civil War dead by decorating their graves with flowers.

Nowadays, there are still solemn remembrances, but those are usually overshadowed by all the fun-loving activities, and by politicians and businesses who use the day as an excuse to engage in flag-waving glorification of the military. Many of those are the same people who hypocritically do nothing to help military personnel once they’re out of uniform, but badly need help because of physical or mental injuries suffered during their service. Trying to survive apparently doesn’t count nearly as much as dying. Continue reading »