Issue # 154 Zzaj-Rant

 

 

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06/08/2015 – The photo you see here was the direct result of mixing too much espresso with Afrin and a sugar-rush from the (early) B-day cake for my son Arthur Metcalf, I suppose!

 

It had been far too long since I visited my sisters Ruth and Geri (& her husband Greg), so a trek to Yo-hio (K’lum’bus, in specific) was definitely in order.  I flew out on the 6th of June… my son arrived a short time after I took the required morning nap (it was a Redeye flight, the first one I remember taking in a very long time), and my sister Ruth took us on a tour around her wonderfully quaint little town of Westerville; the town has done a lot to rebuild its’ image in the ten or fifteen years since I was there last.  One of my favorite haunts, and a place I would visit often if I ever moved out that way, was the Java Central Coffeehouse – Arthur & I hit the doors as soon as they opened in the morning & did at least one cup the whole time we stayed at Ruth’s house. 

 

Geri and Greg were on a short vacation to Florida and returned on the 8th, I believe… my son and I moved over there so they would have a night to tell stories and reminisce a bit… since he had to zoom back to his home in Alabama, we did the little birthday party the evening on the 8th… so cool to eat supper together, then share a bit of cake & ice-cream.  Greg and I share an interest in all things musical, particularly blues and jazz, and he played several albums for me, most notably one by Bruce Hornsby in a jazz trio format… man, that thing KICKS… I’ve never heard anything from Bruce that good before!

 

When Arthur was prepping to leave, we were talking about good (meaning old-fashioned) places to eat… Greg mentioned the Nutcracker Family Restaurant… Ruth and I visited there that evening for supper, and based on the excellent (and quaint) atmosphere (there’s still an old-fashioned gas pump right next to the counter), I returned there the rest of the week for breakfast… if you (like me) dig establishments that still provide good, cheap food with great service, you’ll want to hit this place next time you’re out that way.

 

On Tuesday at noon, I was able to hook up with my old musical/spoken-word pal John M Bennett and his wife Catherine… as per usua, John handed over a whole host of music and poetry productions for review, so you’ll see those pop up in the Zzaj Review QUEUE very soon.  Great lunching together and talking about their busy musical schedule… they had just returned from a gig in Philadelphia with Jack Wright (& I believe John’s son Ben Bennett was playing there, too – Ben’s also in our Review QUEUE).  Just great to hookup with these stalwarts of the mail-art and experimental music scene!

 

On Thursday, the family went out to a ball-game… what absolute fun was had by everyone, as you’ll see in the pix below.  I flew back out to Olympia on Saturday morning… glad to be back home, but thoroughly enjoyed my visit back to my roots.