{edit} I'm bringing back this post... not only because I like it alot and we got a big dump of the white stuff today but... I'm friggin' lazy these days with the posting etc.{/edit}
Snow really is the great equalizer. We received about a couple of feet of snow overnight, and as I was driving home last night I realized that there are a few things that snow does to throw everyone in the same boat.
Everything smooths out when it snows; the landscape seems smoother, your walking is forced to be smoother (no running dude), and damn you have to drive smoother unless you like spinning out of control into light posts. The highways become smoother, although that's not a good thing, this usually has the effect of making your back less smooth as it becomes twisted in knots.
Your ultra pimped out lowered ride suddenly becomes more of a hindrance than a help as you try and get it out of your back alley clogged with snow. Meanwhile the old shitty looking toyota tercel from down the street passes you on the street because that guy drives a sensible vehicle. Cool people with thin leather jackets and no gloves now look ridiculous as they stand outside teeth chattering with an inch of snow in their hair and snot-cicles hanging from their nose. Some think SUV's are the way to go, you may be able to take off faster, but if you think you have a superb ability to stop at an icy intersection you will be unhappily surprised as you go careening into the side of an eastbound car.
Snow is a great distraction and can smooth out your worries. If you've got money/girl/family/work problems they disappear as you concentrate on keeping your car on the road and navigating around the idiots trying to find a way around the great equalizer.
There is no escape, everyone has to travel through it, and experience the wonders of being late to work. The snow falls on us all, whether rich or poor, tall or short, smart or dumb. It's almost comforting somehow to think others are just as miserable as you are, kind of calming. We're all in this together.
Well it looks like there's going to be a severe drop in my gigs over the next while, not sure exactly how long, as the bar I usually play at burned to the ground on Saturday night.
Apparently someone used a jerry can, lit the DJ's car on fire and then figured they had some gas leftover so they lit the club on fire too. The fire department came because of a report of a burning car, but didn't see the club burning until it was obviously too late to contain.
The whole thing isn't really much of a surprise as someone tried to burn the club down in the spring, this attempt was just successful, that's all. In my mind that's what you get when you bring different groups (sometimes gangs) of young people with differring tastes of music (iow different cultures), put them in a club where the music the DJ plays is so loud that your shirt vibrates against your skin. I used to wear earplugs during set breaks and the shit was STILL too loud, and that's after cutting out 35 db!
Anyways, perhaps this will mean I have more time for other things: Family, Jazz, my blog, who knows? It could also mean that the nights I would have been previously playing my trumpet I may now be drinking beer and playing ultra-addicting video games like Eve-online. Who knows, is this the opening I've been looking for? Is this my escape from the Latin music scene? We'll have to wait and see.