Just Another Blundering American

Been listening to Smashing Pumpkins a lot recently.  I forgot how much I absolutely love Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.  Have had “Jellybelly” on repeat for a while.  Was just walking back from lunch, air drumming along with Jimmy Chamberlin.  What an amazing track.   I’m a 30-year old “professional” drummer and am actually moved to flail my arms about in public when it’s on.  That’s compelling music-making.

Shame about the life-ruining heroin addiction, though.

London is a great city, especially on the rare days that actually qualify as “summer”. I love walking through the streets at lunch time (even if it’s just a quick run to the shop), feeling the sun on my face, hearing the bustle of people over the steady undercurrent of traffic and construction. It’s a city that feels “alive”, certainly moreso than Pittsburgh did.

There are always times, however, that I’m reminded of something from home. Usually this sensations take me back further than Pittsburgh, back to Greensburg, about 45 minutes to the east of Pittsburgh. This is where I grew up, and where my parents still live.

Today, on the way to lunch, I had one of those moments. I was crossing City Road, heading towards Somerfield’s, when I have a sensation that takes me back 20 years. The scent of burning autumn leaves fills my head, and I’m transported to the Mohan’s yard, one street down from mine. All the neighborhood dads are burning piles of leaves, accumulated from the trees that frame the yards. We’re playing football (American football, not soccer ), and this afternoon we are the Pittsburgh Steelers. The 1988 Steelers of Bubby Brister, Gary Anderson, and Rod Woodson, struggling their way towards what would be a 5-11 season (their worst since 1969 at the time, and still their worst since 1969). We didn’t care. Every breath pulled on your lungs with that invigorating mix of too-cold autumn air, burning leaves, and freshly-cut grass. We’d play for hours, stopping only when we were invited around the porch (we were too muddy for the kitchen) to enjoy some hot chocolate and cookies. The sun eventually went down, covering the “field” in shadows (the Mohan’s yard faced East-West, and you could see the sun dip down through the trees all the way to the horizon) and sending us home.   Mom would always yell when we came home, our newly-torn sweatpants covered in mud.   But she always let us go out the next day.

As I cross City Road, I’m wondering who would have the nerve to burn leaves in the City Limits (let alone, where would fallen leaves have accumulated enough to burn, as it is still “summer” here).   I turn the corner past Starbucks, and my question is answered.

One of the on-building ashtrays is on fire, the result of a still-too-hot fag end being thrown in.

Gotta love London.

Alright, so I went ahead and added some links and some friends. Some are people I hardly know, but read religiously, and some are people that I’ve known for a long time, but don’t read as much as I should. Some of the links are very important to me, and some are just sort of part of me, but not a way to define me… I’ll let you figure out which are which.

If you’re reading this, you probably already know who I am and what I’m about, but I’ll just reiterate: Music is the most important thing in my life. Listening, performing, watching, feeling, enjoying, hating… everything about music inspires me. When I’m playing music (or even hearing great music), I feel closest to the person that I want to be.

If I can create one thing in my life as beautiful as the bridge in “God Only Knows”, or the final chords in “Long, Long, Long”, I’ll feel like I’ve made a worthwhile contribution.

What I’m listening to these days:

• The Beatles
• The Beach Boys
• Dan Deacon
• Primus
• Young Knives

Check them out, if you haven’t already. I’m always looking to hear new stuff, so please feel free to make recommendations, either here or on my last.fm page.

So, all my friends have blogs.   Have been trying to get something up on my website for a while, finally realized that’s not going to happen (after 6+ years of inactivity).  And here we are.