June Bugs

How cool is that sculpture?  It looks like he is busting an old-school skateboard move.  I was so into skateboarding back in the day.  It's interesting that a lot of skateboarders were early adopters of punk rock, and BRP is one of them.  Man, I need to get back on that board.  That sculpture is actually one on display at Kykuit in Tarrytown, NY, and was collected by none other than Nelson Rockefeller.  I didn't catch the artist or the title of the piece, but I sure as hell appreciate it.

What have you been up to, guys?  Yet again, The Man has been messing with me, sending me this way and that and making sure that my private life is crap.  In a send up of the old Steppenwolf song, goddamn The Man!

OK, ok, I'll quit complaining.  You know what else I've been doing?  How about going to the ballet?  Say what?  It's true.  Now, I must admit that I'm not the biggest fan of this classical art form, but I was at the Academy of Music a bit ago and had a fine time.  I hadn't been in the AOM for a while, and the restoration, which I had seen before, knocked my socks off again.  It's a great building.

The Pennsylvania Ballet is good, too.  They don't let you take pictures during the performance, and for once I complied with the rules.  What I saw was a program called Jewels, and it featured 3 different pieces.  The first one was classical, and I wasn't that into it, but I did take the time to figure out just how much money I will need for retirement and debated with myself as to whether Joe DiMaggio or Ted Williams was truly the better player. 

The second two pieces, however, were really entertaining, with modern dance moves thrown in to the ballet repertoire.  And the accompanying orchestra was quite good - something you would expect in a city that sports one of the best philharmonics in the U.S. and also has a fantastic music school in Curtis.  All in all, it was a fun evening doing something other than rocking my eyes out.

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What's a better follow up to a ballet post than the Stay Puft marshmallow man?  Hahaha, remember this from Ghostbusters?  That movie came out in the mid-80s and still holds up.  Check it out the next time it's on TV.  And if you are into Netflix, check out the shows Fauda (about an Israeli spy agency, damn good and violent, too) or Marseilles (starring Gerard Depardau and taking place in the funky, dangerous and beautiful French city).  
 

Wow, how beautiful is the East Coast this time of year?  I was at Jenkins Arboretum recently, and caught the peak time for azaleas and rhododendruns.  JA is a great place, hardly ever crowded, and most importantly, it's FREE.  You know BRP loves F-R-E-E.  This place is fully worth the cost of admission.  It's wonderful to live in the Philly area with all of its amazing gardens (Longwood being the top of the heap and so world class - go see the restored fountains - they spent $90 million (!) on them and they are worth seeing).  

And how about some rock?  Check this costume out and tell me who wore it:
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Who'd you guess?  Michael Jackson?  Liberace?  Prince?  

Nope.  Not even close.  How about Lord Horatio Nelson, the British admiral who freaking destroyed the combined Spanish and French navies at the Battle of Trafalgar and thus launched Vox Britannia?  Whatever, the dude knew how to dress!  Check out those duds - super awesome, and very similar to how I dress for work these days.  They are on display at the Princeton Museum of Art, a really fine small museum that has an outstanding collection.  Check it out if you are in the area.

Also worth checking out is the Princeton Record Exchange.  Now, this is really about rock 'n roll.  PRE has a nice collection of CDs and records and BRP picked up 4 CDs, including ones by Deer Tick, Wolf Alice, the Jayhawks and Royal Blood.  All for about $25!  Yeah, yeah, I know that everyone has Spotify now, and no one buys music, but that's a bullshit notion of the past being eclipsed by the present.  I still like to own music, still like to listen to entire albums track by track, still like using my car's CD player, and still like having a big ass collection that works even when the wifi is down.  

Yup, I have Spotify, and I like it.  But they don't have certain artists of importance (try to find Marah, for instance), and sometimes my phone won't sync with my Bluetooth system, etc.  There is a place for physical music in the world, and judging by the crowd at PRE, I'm not the only one that thinks that way.  One beef with PRE is that the highest CD rack is too high and too crammed with CDs, thus making it hard to flip through.  I'll bet their sales aren't very high for artists on the upper racks.  But otherwise, I'm chill with PRE and recommend it.  Oh, and they have a ton of vinyl, too.  And from the pics below, it looks like you can pick up some middle-aged bald dudes, too (but who the hell wants that?).  Here are some photos:

And with that, I need to get rolling.  But before I do, here's another sculpture that I found interesting.
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He looks like a cross between Planet of the Apes and Darth Vader, right?  I thought it was fun.  Check it out at the Grounds for Sculpture in New Jersey.  I'll have more to say, and more photos, too, on GFS in an upcoming post.

I'm off to see a show at the Mann tomorrow night, which should be cool.  I have another show (but not rock) to write up, and I still need to get Jonathan's poster collection on line.  Oh, and I was at a wedding in Sonoma with a DJ, and I'm telling you that the dude must have read my post on what to play at a party!  I'll write that up - it was so bitchin' - but I need to find the time.  I'm trying, but The Man is hateful!  I also have a cool set of motorcycle and vintage record player collections to show you. 

Let's end with a tune, shall we?  How about a real oldie that I heard the other day - Stealers Wheel with Stuck in the Middle With You.  Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right - just another day at work, correct?
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What?  One more?  How about Steve Miller's ​The Joker:

Did you know that Miller made up the word "pompetus" for this song?  It's true.  It's pretty rock 'n roll.  It's also pretty douche.  Perfect for the era of Fakebook.  Just make it up, no one knows, and like the word "pompetus," no one gives a crap, either.

​Hey, you all take care and do the cha-cha-cha down the halls at work just to freak 'em out.  Love ya!