Haunted When The Minutes Drag

The past two days of stomach angst have been a marathon of uckiness. I called out from work Thursday and stayed in bed, and Friday I didn't even go to the Unknown Hinson show that I had tickets for and that I was looking forward to -- which is a shame, because my friend Ted's band Shifty was opening up for Hinson and I haven't even seen them yet. And rarely do I miss a show for illness, especially in the old days. Back around 1992 or so I had the flu so bad I missed Alice Donut at the Kings Head Inn, and that same year I had the Death Cough so bad I coughed the cartilage right off one of my ribs while I was driving and had to go to the ER, and missed NOFX. Although I did end up seeing NOFX, about two years later opening for Fishbone at the Floodzone in Richmond. And I later saw Alice Donut once or twice, and the band crashed at my house during one of those tours. I remember bass player Sissi walking into my bedroom in the middle of the night while I was asleep thinking she was in the bathroom, and I remember my then-roommate Steve with us having breakfast at Denny's with Da Donuts and him pointing excitedly at Sissi's generous breasts and shouting "THOSE ARE COOL!", which we later discovered he meant the little charms on her necklace. Boy, see where my mind goes while I digress at 4 o'clock in the morning? Anyway, where was I...

So yeah, stomach pains. I feel bad about missing Unknown Hinson, but I knew I would be miserable the entire time. Never knowing when the pains would strike, not to mention barely being able to stay out of the restroom the entire day. Plus I'd be tempted to buy food at the Jewish Mother, and as good as their potato latkes are I doubt they'd settle my tummy any more or less. I can't even remember the last time I saw a live show at the Jewish Mother. Was it the Bad Livers? I think it was. Or one of the multitudes of times I saw Maceo Parker there? That last Maceo gig always reminds me of the time nearly half the audience went to Waffles 'N Things right after the show for after-hours breakfast and coffee, and Maceo showed up with Fred Wesley and Pee Wee Ellis, and my late friend Tom (who was also there but on the other side of the resturant) told me how Maceo was high-fiving him and everybody around him, but when one of Tom's friends raised his hand to be high-fived, Maceo walked right past him and left him hanging. We suspect Maceo just didn't see him, but ever since whenever someone is left hangin' from a high-five we say "Dude, you got MACEO'D!" God, I miss Tom.

And I really need some sleep.