Like most of America, Columbus, Ohio just got walloped by a huge winter storm grinding everything to a halt. Even Colin’s Coffee. Thankfully we avoided the nasty ice that devastated our friends in Nashville and other points South, but we got pummeled with snow, immediately followed by a week of bitter cold.
So it was back to the lockdown mentality we all remember so well. Below are some of my random thoughts and activities while snowed in for 48 hours…..
- I never took those kooky Don’t Tread On Me snake-loving people seriously. They always went on and on about how one day the federal government was going to confiscate legal firearms from U.S. citizens and then once disarmed, execute citizens for having the nerve to criticize…..the federal government.
I thought..What is that from? Stranger Things? The Stand? The New Testament? Nah..Never gonna happen. Ah..ya crazy bastards.
Turns out I was wrong. It’s happening right now in Minnesota. My apologies to the zany Don’t Tread On Me folks. You nailed it.
- With this situation unfolding in Minnesota, it seems like a good time to mention that while Pencil Storm isn’t a political website, get out and vote however-whatever, we don’t care. However, we do remain anti-Nazi. I thought the USA sorted this out during WW2 but obviously we were mistaken. So call us dirty hippies if you want, but we do not approve of masked federal agents shooting unarmed Americans in the head in broad daylight for minor traffic violations or fucking around on their phone. That basically describes 98% of all citizens at this moment and it doesn’t seem very democratic.
If you feel the same, make your voice heard by sharing on social media while tagging your local pro-Nazi politicians.
- I could lose my mind staring at the horrible events in Minneapolis on Instagram but that’s no good. So I turned off my phone and started playing records and drinking coffee. Records are still the best way to experience music. I’m not saying I do it very often and I concede that turning the record over is a major pain in the ass. Especially when we have been conditioned to sit on our ass and have everything brought to us. Maybe I could have Door Dash send out a dude to flip my record?
But if you can spare the 20 seconds and 7 calories it takes to play a record, I think it’s worth the investment in both precious time and strenuous physical activity.
I pulled the new record by Happy Chichester out of the sleeve and dropped the needle. It was intentional listening. I read all the lyrics and stared at the artwork. And turned it over. And I turned it over again. And I read the lyrics again. And I stared at the artwork again. And I turned the record over again. No headphones. Speakers filling the room. I got teary-eyed with gratitude that a master musician/artist like Happy invites all to share his talents and all we have to do is listen. And feel joy. And love. And the groove. (Click read why I Love Happy Chichester by Dave Grohl. Yeah, that guy.)
I also played records by Tim Easton, Dwight Yoakam, Blackberry Smoke, The Kinks and Cheap Trick.
- Oh yeah, Cheap Trick For Charity returns to Woodlands Tavern Sunday, February 1st. Doors 3pm, show at 4. Free admission but all cash-online donations benefit the Heart To Heart Food Pantry. It’s going to be a total blast for a great cause but even if you cannot attend consider a donation RIGHT NOW to Heart to Heart or a local food bank of your choice. The following two videos will illustrate in no uncertain terms why I, personally, consider Cheap Trick the greatest rock n roll band of all time. Yup, all time. Sorry Foghat fans.
- Score one for Facebook. I know, Facebook mostly sucks; make one wise-ass comment about how the Federal Government is violating the 2nd amendment by having masked agents disarm and shoot law-abiding U.S. citizens in the head, and suddenly the whole thread becomes, “Why don’t you lay off the Nazis?” “What’s your beef with the Nazis?” “Snowflake.”
Aggravating for sure, but overall, even with all the Nazi sympathizers I still get more joy out of Facebook than stress.
Case in point - I stumbled on a post by the legendary Bill Lloyd raving about an out-of-print record by a band I had never heard of who happened to be called….wait for it…..The Records.
The Records were active 1979-ish? (I’m not a critic. Do your own research) and were primed for glory and ready to ride that massive power-pop wave to the top of the Billboard charts. That power-pop wave never crashed and never will, but The Records had a minor hit, “Starry Eyes,” and for a moment, it seemed possible.
I should note “Robert “Mutt” Lange produced the first album by The Records, but we won’t hold that against them. It was his first production job, too. I kid…..sorta…..Mutt obviously knows what he is doing for better (High and Dry, Back in Black) and for worse (Hysteria, Heartbreak City…basically every other record he worked on).
Did I mention I was shoveling a lot of snow? I was. While shoveling I couldn’t find the studio release I was looking for, but Spotify has a live set from 1980 from Evanston Illinois and I fell in love.
Watershed recently returned from recording some new stuff with our guy Tim Patalan and I was feeling pretty full of myself. Then I listened to The Records track “I Spent A Week With You Last Night” twice (headphones on, with hat pulled over the top in the cold) and sent the following text to Joe & the guys, “””5dasjjkbchfHhaWRtgv,” but then I took off my gloves and tried again, “Geez, our band kinda sucks.”
- We also watched the movie Sentimental Value, recommended by Rob Braithwaite, who has forgotten more about movies than you and I and all the Nazis combined* will ever know. It was great. Watch it!
- Also been watching Pluribus, The American Revolution and re-watching Silicon Valley and We Own This City.
And watching boring NFL, stressful OSU hoops, and getting hyped for a big boxing match (!) this Saturday between Shakur Stevenson and Teofimo Lopez.
Oh, books…..I read them too! Anytime I feel there are too many Nazis in power I challenge myself to tackle a classic. Take the high ground, as they say. This time it’s Anna Karenina by what’s his name, Tolstoy. Anyway, he is Russian, all the characters are Russian and have Russian names, which while appropriate, can become very confusing to uncultured Midwestern guys like myself. Still, I am digging it. And I read a book about a man-eating tiger. Non- fiction! (editor’s note; apparently, because it was non-fiction, that man-eating toger book doesn’t have a title.)
I also recently downloaded the book Football which is the latest from my favorite writer Chuck Klosterman. I am so excited. It’s funny, my dream is to one day walk into a bar and talk about Van Halen and KISS with Chuck Klosterman. Coincidentally, Chuck’s goal is to never get caught talking about Van Halen and KISS in a bar with anyone.
Long odds, I concede. But since I once had a 30-minute conversation with Bruce Springsteen, and Indiana won the College Football national title, it’s possible Chuck might one day find himself at a Roosters with a draft Budweiser listening to me explain how Monster is actually a pretty good record. Certainly better than Sonic Boom.
Ok, I will shut up now.
Colin Gawel plays in the duo CG2, and in the bands The League Bowlers and Watershed.
Gigs: Cheap Trick For Charity - Sunday February 1st - Woodlands Tavern, 4-6pm / Colin Gawel League Bowlers opening for KISS Unmasked Ohio Saturday February 21st - Andon’s Pub, Dublin, OH. / Colin Gawel League Bowlers - Friday Feb 27th - Eldorados, 6-8pm.
*In all fairness, the original Hitler Nazis were pretty good with propaganda films. And keeping the trains running on time. Got to give them that. The new breed American Nazis don’t care for the arts or film unless we include Landman, but that’s more of a show eh?**
** In fairness to Landman, I recently had just a wee bit more gummy than I should have and went on a Landman Season Two binge watch. It brought me back to my freshman year at Ohio State when my senior roommate would grow pot in his closet. All the grow-lights and what not. And sometimes he would wake me up to smoke pot with him and watch CHIPS, which aired every weeknight on WTBS at 4 am. Yes, 4 am. Obviously, both CHIPS and Landman are horrible shows by any reasonable standard, but by super-stoned unreasonable standards, they are both kinda awesome.