Frank Calabretta's Bail House Bail Bonds
2009 was a fine year. I opened AJPN Studio and have came a long way towards getting the studio to where I would like it to be. I still have a ways to go and I feel confident that before the end of the first year I will be well on my way to exceeding those goals.
Here’s to everyone who has helped my along my way and here’s to an even more productive year in 2010. See you soon.
Tony
The Mast that Greeted All who Came
Last Saturday, June 20th, 2009, we headed on down to the Third Annual Pirate Festival at Mare Island in Vallejo. It was free and I have to tell you, we really got our money’s worth. I had more fun there just walking around than I have had in some time at any other event.
I really appreciate it when someone is so into it that they go the extra step to do it right. And whereas at many other events the women step it up and make the men look like pathetic wannabes, well, it wasn’t that way at the Pirate Fest. In fact, it was hard to find too many women that were as glammed up as many of the men.
One of the 'more' Insane Pirates!
I highly recommend checking this event out next year. It’s worth going out of your way for. It’s just a good, family friendly, exciting event. There were a ton of kids there and I didn’t see one making complaint.
Great music and food and fantastic shopping, especially if you’re into the kind of duds that pirates might favor.
Check out the gallery here.
Directions . . .
In the meantime I’ve been neglecting the things I usually have plenty of time to work on. My gallery, my blog, taking random pictures, posting them, going places . . . all of those things have been tossed by the wayside.
For the time being I have no Internet access in my space either so that has made things a little difficult. Hopefully, I can remedy that situation soon. In fact, I need to do that posthaste, as lacking the hookup it making things difficult. The thing is I was thinking that without it I would be faced with one fewer distraction.
In more tragic news, last week a close friend was killed in tree trimming accident. Joe Huckins was only 30 years old. I will post more on Joey in the future; right now I believe we are all just trying to come to terms with his death.
Come by and visit me at the studio at 985 Lincoln Way, #204 upstairs. You might call first though just to be sure I’m there. I’ve been in and out quite a bit. (530) 885-5375
Sky's the Limit, Right?
As they say—in politically correct language, “Things happen”.
With the current state of our economy, I have decided that the time has come to either get into the tank or, well… to be honest there aren’t any other options.
So I have been looking for a location to open a studio. I have found one or two interesting possibilities, but I am trying to be realistic as far as expenses go. This week I found a place I was thinking might be the perfect fit.
I was psyched.
the Guff
At the moment I am still waiting to see what, if any, incentive they might offer.
Hopefully, when this all works out, which I am sure it eventually will, I can get back to a regular routine.
In the meantime I am working on galleries for all of the Firedrums events I have been to in the past. Not a lot of technically sound images, but for the sake of those performing I am going to post them soon anyway. Watch for an update.
Creepy Creepy!
My favorite fact about Friday the 13th is that if you get one in February—unless it’s a leap year—you’re going to get another in March. I first realized this when I was in high school. And now, today, I have discovered that if those two facts are the case then we will also have a third Friday the 13th during the year as well. Look for it in November.
I never took the superstition too seriously myself even though the movie franchise started at about the same time I realized the aforementioned details. That is until I was going to college in Ohio in 1983. It was on Friday the 13th in May that year. I had a friend who lived next door. His name was Frank.
Many Hospitals have no Room 13
Frank was a very cool cat, who introduced me to the New York City music scene. While I was at school there were few days that the two of us didn’t hang out. That Friday I dropped in for a visit. As I came in, he and one of his roommates were laughing about their third roommate.
Even though it was late in the afternoon the roommate was still in bed. And he refused to get up. Even though everyone harassed him the guy refused to get out of bed and did not get out of bed all day long. He was that freaked out by the day. And as I have discovered his was not a fear all his own.
The great Franklin Roosevelt refused to travel on and Friday the 13th. He also refused to host thirteen guests at his table. No word on whether he counted himself as a guest or not. And his predecessor, the debatably not so great, President Hubert Hoover also feared the day.
Back to New York City for a moment. While I was there five years later in 1988, I remember seeing many buildings, especially buildings that were built prior to or during the early twentieth century, that did not have a 13th floor. No kidding. Elevators with no 13. How lame is that.
There is nothing to fear except fear itself!
What is it with all of this negative 13th business? Realistically speaking, thirteen should be a respected numeral. For one, there really should be thirteen months in the year since there are thirteen cycles of the moon. Forget this twelve business being the most complete number. I have even heard that many years ago there were actually thirteen months in the year, as there should be now. If there were, I believe we could avoid this leap year every four years as well. Don’t quote me on that. I may be wrong!
Anyway, if you ask me this fear of thirteen is completely ridiculous and uncalled for. Oh, and if you’re not sure it’s referred to as Triskaidekaphobia. A word that confusing shouldn’t even exist.
From Merriam-Webster::
Main Entry: triskaidekaphobia
Pronunciation: tris-kī-de-kə-‘fō-bē-ə
Function: noun
Etymology:New Latin, from Greek treiskaideka thirteen (from treis three + kai and + deka ten) + New Latin phobia more at THREE, TEN
Date:circa 1911
: fear of the number 13
January 20th, 2009
It’s also the time that our new president has been in office. But that isn’t why I wrote this blog. I was out riding my bike on January 20th and I happened to see this crow lying dead on the side of the road. I don’t much like crows. They’re annoying and sometimes I can hear them pestering my cat outside. So seeing one dead didn’t bother me too much. I stopped and took a few pictures.
He was relatively intact. Probably hit by a car only a few days before. Yesterday, I went out for a ride again. And I rode down the same road. I have ridden quite a few times since January 20th, but this was the first time I have ridden on this road again.
March 9th
On the off chance that the crow might still be there I looked in the place I had seen him before. I figured that a coyote or a vulture, or even another crow would have cleaned him up by now, so I was surprised he was still there. He was moved a few feet, but must not have been worth dragging off.
I still didn’t feel much for him. I was impressed with his resilience though. Just like when a crow is alive they don’t really give in. They’re persistent and even if you chase one off there’s a very good chance they’ll come back the moment you turn away. I looked at his carcass and thought even dead the bastard doesn’t give in!
Then I thought of my cat. I have often watched him just sit there not caring one bit that a big crow was up in the tree squawking like a jerk. He just ignores them without a concern in the world. I love that about my cat. I don’t see you, I don’t hear you and I don’t care.
Well, except for maybe when he does that to me!
See more images of the crow here.
I'm Alive in Here
I’ll be adding lots of pictures to this gallery.
See the first offering here.
No Line on the Horizon
If I were to listen to those records now I would wonder what the heck it was I liked about them. The songs sound frail and weak, as if played on toy instruments. But at the time I loved them. I was totally hooked. When Boy came out stateside shortly thereafter, I bought that too. I don’t know how many times I listened to ‘Out of Control’, but I wore that song to the bone.
Yes I was some kind of geek for underground punk and new wave at the time. When everyone else was doing airbands to Molly Hatchet and Van Halen my senior year, we did U2. There is a video floating around of that performance somewhere. I wish I could see it now! There were people throwing stuff at us when we came out, but at the end we got rousing applause.
Just to speak of my dedication, I had missed seeing U2 several times before I finally saw them on the War tour twice in 1983. The reasons I missed them were always because of circumstances beyond my control.
Ohio 5.19.83
A few months later I finally got tickets to see them in Sacramento opening for J Geils of all bands. I hated J Geils, but the sacrifice would have to be made. A few days before the show U2 cancelled. Rumors of fatigue were blamed, but more likely, their being booed off the stage in Seattle at an earlier date opening for Geils was the real reason.
The next time I would have an opportunity to see them was in Ohio. They were playing a couple of hundred miles away in Cleveland from where I was going to school in Ohio. The date was May 19th, 1983. I had no car and I had actually seen Roxy Music the day before with friends, also in Cleveland. No one wanted to see U2 so I was out. I was walking to a class the next morning, thinking about it and being depressed that I was once again going to miss them. Suddenly, this car pulls up alongside of me and the window goes down. These two dudes I vaguely knew from school go, “Hey Tony, we’re going to see U2 in Cleveland. You wanna go?”
Civic 1983
I have no words to describe the rush I got at that show. I walked out with a bruised cheek from Bono kicking me in the face when he jumped into the audience. I didn’t notice. I was literally steaming when I walked out of that show. It was amazing. I came back to SF a few weeks later and saw them again with a group of my best friends. That was amazing too.
1984
That wasn’t really why I lost respect for them though. That happened many years later.
The real reason I lost respect for U2 is that I think Bono is more concerned with getting a Peace Prize than he is honestly trying to help people. It’s kind of like AJ and BP. I don’t trust them. With the star set it just feels like everything is about self promotion first. Helping the needy seems to be a tool to achieve that. Maybe I’m wrong. I certainly hope so, but I have much more respect for the way Bill Gates goes about it that any of the stars do. As more of a private cruisade.
1985
Back when Bob Geldof made that silly Christmas record it seemed sincere and fresh. Now it seems passé. Does that mean I think that Bono and Angie should stop trying to help starving Africans and such? No. But I think it should be illegal for them to profit from it. Now do I believe you can separate the two? Probably not. In fact, I will be the first to admit that is impossible. Does that mean I’m to going to vent about it? Hell no.
That said I think U2 did something last night on David Letterman that incorporated what they have been known for musically for many years along with something vaguely early rap influenced (at the beginning), which I thought was kind of cool.
Plus, I like Letterman better than Leno or that other knucklehead that is taking over for Leno in short order. How can I not, Letterman is an Aries.
Am I going to buy U2’s new album? Even though, for the first time since War, Steve Lillywhite helped with producing a U2 album, the answer is a resounding, No.
Anxiety (me by ELT)
When I was growing up I often felt alone; like an outsider. My mother even once told me I was the black sheep of our family. I wondered about this, because even though I was the youngest and I was much thinner than my two siblings I still looked very much like my eldest brother and I related well to my middle brother.
But deep down inside I knew she was right. It wasn’t what was on the outside or how well I got along with others; it was what was I felt inside that made me unique. When I had problems or stress it was the way I dealt with it that made me different. I often closed up and used daydreams to escape.
Or if there was something I didn’t enjoy, such as, walking up the mile long hill to my house after school everyday, I would go into some imaginary world until it was over.
Mirror Pool — 1986
I remember seeing a movie once where a kid was scoffed for being a daydreamer. And most of the times I heard any reference to daydreaming it was in a negative connotation. I learned to keep it a secret. I never told anyone how on a moments notice I could escape to some fantastic place that existed only in my mind.
In fact, I might be talking to someone one second and the next moment I could go back to this place where I might be respected and venerated for one of my many fabulous talents and where no one would ever dream of mocking me or putting me down.
Nozzles
The only thing that was required of these worlds was a sense that it was plausible that it might exist—no matter how absurd the potential it had of actually coming to fruition—the more satisfying it was to me. Once I had created this feasibility I could put my new world on hold and return to it at any time on a moment’s notice.
When I thought of a better way to get there that seemed even more probable I would go back to the beginning and start over. It really was pretty amusing. I have only met a handful of people in my life I believe actually had this talent and used it as frequently as I had. And I have only discussed it once or twice with people I am sure did it as well as I have.
My fantastic scenarios usually involved music when I was a child. At first I turned on the stereo and the music seemed to stimulate my fantasies and they just happened. But after awhile they just started happening. Later I realized I could transform a lot of this imagination into actual results. I could visualize things and then create them.
Starry-Eyed
I’m pretty sure that is why I am drawn to things I can use to express myself with such as writing or creating music and photographs. It’s been a long time since I’ve written a song and to be honest I’ve have been trying to focus my energy toward photography and writing, so as I get older I try to funnel my creative energy toward things instead of allowing them to run wild.
Once in while though, things just slip out. Like maybe this blog.
I just wanted to write this to tell you if you’re one of ‘us’, you’re not alone. There is nothing wrong with being a dreamer. In fact at certain times in history you may have been looked up to as a visionary. Keep that in mind.
Microsoft Cashscam
I still haven’t. And as it would seem a lot of others haven’t either. I don’t know what is going on, but I’m really getting fed up with the unrequited promises. I have been in contact with at least three different individuals with their support.
Each one has made a promise it would arrive by a certain date and each date has came and went. One even suggested it was the fault of Paypal. I contacted them and they knew nothing about it although Microsoft claimed they had been in contact.
Right now I am waiting for the next rung in the tech support chain to get in touch with me.
So just to reiterate. The Cashback offer is still not paying off.
See the original post here.
