Stuck Inside of Queens with the Travelin' Blues Again...

We've all heard about holiday travel nightmares around Thanksgiving, and i'm currently in the midst of one. It started as innocent as increased traffic on Queens Boulevard on the way to my 7:20 pm flight out of JFK, but just 2 minutes ago, i witnessed LaGuardia Airport Security performing a bum sweep in the sitting area i am holed up in for the night.

Apparently you're not allowed to sleep in airports? Luckily i was busy beginning this post when the fuzz came through. Everyone asleep in this area was rudely awoken, and one woman that didn't look to be homeless was escorted out. i need a red bull.

If you noticed, i mentioned two different airports. Let's just say my travel plans have gone slightly askew. That 7:20 flight of of JFK was first delayed until 8:50. No big deal - dinner and a couple beers at an airport bar. Then it was pushed back to 10:00. Then 10:15. Finally at 10:30 we board the plane. Just as i get settled in my seat, the steward... flight attendant.... whatever - air travel accommodation representative informed us that our flight back to Houston had been canceled and we were to return to the gate for further instructions. Upon returning inside it quickly became obvious that those on the flight with me were not too pleased. We later found out that the 7:20 flight from the previous day had also been delayed numerous times before finally being canceled. Those on the flight were put up in a crappy hotel for the night, given $7 bucks for dinner, and told to return to the airport for the same 7:20 pm flight the following day (today), only to repeat the entire process. You can imagine their fury.

The 15 minutes following the cancellation were a little tense to say the least. The Delta representatives back in the gate cluelessly asked a line of 50+ angered travelers (half of which were well versed in the cancellation/hotel voucher process by now) what we were doing and if we had all missed our flight. This instigated a rash of exchanges between the two sides. Warnings of calls to attorneys, some personal threats, and many understandably worrying what missing another day of work could spell for them. That was my first encounter with airport security for the night. Needless to say, most folks on the flight (including myself) will never fly Delta again.

Instead of trust the promise of a 6:00 am flight being added the next morning to get everyone back to Houston, my party has decided to cut ties with Delta and the shithole that is JFK. We booked a Continental flight out of LaGuardia scheduled for 5:45 am. After another cab ride stifled by traffic, we arrive at the new airport to find that the Continental check-in desk has closed for the night and the automated kiosks don't function until 3:00 am. These days, you obviously can't enter the terminal (where comfortable and numerous seats reside) without a boarding pass. So here we are. Sitting with the bums.... well not anymore, i guess. Now if i can only suffer these next 3 hours in an iron seat and hope the gestapo don't come back, i may make it home in the morning.

Thanks for humoring my attempt at killing time/venting a bit.
Here's some jams:

Bob Dylan - Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again (alt. take)
buy No Direction Home Soundtrack (2005)

Robert Johnson – Traveling Riverside Blues
buy The Complete Recordings (1990)

Leadbelly – Where Did You Sleep Last Night
buy Best of Leadbelly (2000)

Adam Hood – Million Miles Away
buy 6th Street (2004)

Kasey Chambers – Better Be Home Soon
from Don’t Talk Back [Single] (1999)

Make It Stop....

i've been flipping back and forth from tonight's CMA Awards, and i swear it's the funniest thing on TV.... well, it would be if weren't dead serious. It's like a dogshow in that the only people that really care about it are the ones there on the stage. But the sad thing is, these idiots are put there by real people, who really like this music, really buy it... really sing along. They make it a lucrative business. Why else do you think Jessica Simpson and Hootie jumped on the bandwagon? The artists know exactly what they're doing. They've found a loophole in the system. Those few that write their own music simply cater to the ignorant 'middle America', writing simple songs that will undoubtedly get played played at every barbecue, high school party, and rural wedding across the country. It's shameless exploitation.

How can so many stupid fucking Americans actually buy this crap? What kind of shallow person has their musical desires fulfilled by each and every "i love America" spewed out from the prettiest faces money can buy and records labels can hand pick off a reality show.

"Oooh he said he's from the county.... SO AM I. I love this guy!"
"She drives a pickup. My grandpa has one of those. I'm gonna buy her record now."
"Look, he wears a baseball cap with the edges perfectly frayed like mine. He's cool. So am I"

Fuck Me.

It's no wonder most people laugh when at you when you say you like country music. What chance do we have to be taken seriously when this is the face of it.

Kid Rock is on now, singing a thoughtless regurgitation of one of the most overplayed songs in history. And everybody loves it - mindless people that listen (and enjoy) whatever the local radio station puts on the airwaves. i haven't had my radio on FM for about 5 years now, so i don't know the songs, much less most of the acts, on my TV tonight. Half of 'em can't even sing. They just hop around the stage under a spotlight, waving their arms around cause they don't possess the talent to play a guitar - while the real musicians are hidden behind them in the dark.

Some 'award show'. The same 5 people present and receive all the trophies. The same songs are nominated in categories like 'Best Single' and 'Best Song' - what's the fucking difference? It's just another chance for these chumps to selfishly show their perfectly made up faces to the world, and pat themselves on the back for creating musical genocide.

At least the chicks are hot. That's all this show has going for it.
That and George Strait.

If you're here, you most likely feel the same way, so i'm preachin' to the choir. But i just had to get this off my chest.

Here is some REAL COUNTRY MUSIC:

The Everybodyfields - Be Miner
Caitlin Cary & Thad Cockrell - Please Break My Heart
The Felice Brothers - Whiskey In My Whiskey
Gillian Welch - Look At Miss Ohio
Hayes Carll - Long Way Home

Check out Setting The Woods On Fire for more REAL COUNTRY MUSIC

No Show......

i didn't take that picture.
But i could have.
Like... five minutes ago.

That is, if The Kooks hadn't have canceled their show in Houston tonight. Although i only bought my tickets 2 days ago, i was hugely pumped to see that show. And just before i was to leave town and head for Houston, across the wire came the news. Some sort of illness. Shit.

So here i am.
In front of the computer instead.
Whiskey & soda.
Bummed.

i don't get to catch many shows as it is in these parts. Especially not folks like The Kooks. i was ready to have my face melted by the hottest thing to come out of Britain since fish n' chips.

i'm gonna continue to vent here....

Just 3 weeks ago, i was in Austin and hours away from seeing Kasey Chambers (who came even further than Luke Pritchard and band). Until my craigslist ticket connection backed out on me.

So there goes two chances to see great music that won't happen again for quite a while.

But alas, disaster-barring, i WILL see Ryan Adams & The Cardinals in Austin in 13 short days. There is hope, folks.

That is all.
Jams:

The Kooks - If Only
buy Inside In/Inside Out (2006)

Kasey Chambers - Guilty As Sin
buy Wayward Angel (2004)

Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - NY, NY (punk version)