(The Sea)²

I’m listening to the complete Beethoven String Quartets as I write this. That’s over 8 hours of music. I could listen to it straight through. There’s not a lot of music I can say that about. I could do the complete Coltrane too. For now I’ll just for as long as it takes me to write this.

That was not a good introductory paragraph. I learned in school that you should establish the main ideas in the introduction. We’ll consider that paragraph and this, the preface and the forward. The entry starts after this.

Yesterday was a busy day, therapy, my first time at an old restaurant, and seeing The Sea The Sea at City Vineyard. It was my first time at the venue. The thing that makes it a long day is that therapy is in Harrison, quite a bit north of New York City, and City Vineyard is in Tribeca, far south Manhattan.

Therapy was interesting as I told her about scheduling my cataract surgery. It’s amazing how happy people get when I tell them about it. I think it’s because they’re tired of hearing my Mr. Magoo jokes. After the surgery I’ll go back to comparing myself to Perry the Platypus. My role models have always been animated. Is it sad that saying things like that is one of the things I like most about myself? Even if it is, it’s good for my mental health. I’m being free to be me.

The exciting thing about the trip into the city is that I got to use the MetroNorth ticket I had left over from when I went to Fairfield to see Caravan of Thieves. It expires next month and I find it very unlikely I’ll be traveling up there before then.

City Vineyard is owned by City Winery, the food is expensive; so I didn’t want to eat there. I asked the all-knowing Google for a restaurant suggestion in the area. It came up with Walker’s on N. Moore and Varick. That is exactly where the 1 train leaves me off, the location was perfect. The review said it had the best bar food in the city. I didn’t have anything exciting, a burger and fries, but they were both made perfectly. Is it the best? Probably not, is it very good? Yes.

The Vineyard is on Pier 26, which as you might guess is on the Hudson River. That means walking all the way west. It was a not long but weird walk. There was hardly anybody on the streets on the way there. That neighborhood becomes a ghost town at night. Part of me likes that, I love the bustle of New York Streets but there’s always something peaceful about being alone in public places.

I got to the venue and asked for a seat down front. I was alone but I knew Ellen was coming so I told the host so they’d save a seat for her near me. It ended up that she was with her friend, Bob? Bill? One of those, but after playing musical chairs we all had seats together. The problem was that the other person at the table was saving seats but did not tell the hostess that or put anything on them. Pro tip, when saving seats don’t keep it a secret.

A little while later, Gene and Isabel came in. I thought I’d see them. They had been to the Vineyard before and sat in their usual seats. If I weren’t blind might like them. But I am Magoo. While I went over to talk to them Gidge came in. He was by myself and as there was one more seat at our table, I asked him to join us. A night I went out solo ended up being quite social.

Do you know what else happened yesterday, other than socializing, commuting, and eating? There was music at the concert! Imagine that. The Sea the Sea, are there supposed to be commas? Spent the last year performing as a quartet. Last night it was back to the original duo, Chuck and Mira. I don’t think there’s another band that I’ve been with closer to the beginning than them. They sang in Budgiedome before they ever did a gig or had a name. I was immediately enraptured. They are one of my favorite bands to write about because there are reasons that I like them, reasons I can identify, reasons that I’ve discussed with them. They are pretty much the best musicians to talk music with. They have equals but no superiors. It was clearest when I heard Mira talking to Gene so I could see it from the outside. There was no talking down to the layman. Mira got exciting about things and it gushed forth. That makes it sound emotional, but it’s also analytical. They are my people. Mira loves math! She just said that out of the blue.

I’m still not talking about music, I’m talking about talking about music. Now to focus. What makes them great is that the phone nothing in, they are never on autopilot. Every note, every word, every harmony, has a purpose in advancing the song. The first thing everyone notices is how well their voices blend. It’s what caught my ear that first time. But now I hear so much more. Even in a section of simple harmony where they stay a third or a fifth from each other they vary things. Before I’ve noticed how one will get a little or ahead of the other. Last night I caught how even on a held note they change things up slightly changing their volume so now one, then the other is louder. You don’t have to hear that to appreciate it. I never did before. What your mind hears is “that harmony is perfect.”

I used to love Bob Ross, watching him paint was fascinating. My favorite part was that to me a painting would look complete, then he’d had a little line, or a little shading, and all of a sudden the picture dramatically changed for the better. That’s what Chuck and Mira do, they put in the details that turn the good into the great.

After the show I sold merch and schmoozed. Chuck is local and had family there. His mother remembered me and came over to say hello. I told her that she did a great job. He said that he’s a great kid. I had trouble figuring out her accent. Later I was talking to Chuck and the subject of accents came up and he told me that she grew up in Norway and moved to New York as an adult. You would never guess that she was not a native speaker. She has picked up New Yorkerisms. I was thinking the south? The Midwest? I heard something layered under the New York but couldn’t pin it down.

I found Chuck talking to two friends, Erin and JJ. Erin is Mira’s childhood friend, they grew up in West Virginia. Both speak English, not West Virginiaese. This is where the accent discussion came from. The one place where Chuck’s mother’s accent comes out is she reverses W and V and so will say Vest Wirginia. It’s difficult, try it, but it’s how I want to say it for now on. I’m talking to the three of them and mention Deni, I know that Chuck knows Deni as Deni was a regular on Mountain Stage and Mira’s father words on the show. He’s the bandleader now. As soon as I said, “Deni;” Erin goes, Deni Bonet? It’s a tiny world and her father was in a band with Deni. I’m mad that I’m blanking on their name. They sounded amazing, prog folk and performance art. They’d mix in comedy. I never heard them and they are already my favorite band.

I ended up being the last to leave, not my plan. The walk on the subway home was a bit longer, I had to walk to the E train. It was nice to walk alone, after all that time socializing and sitting then standing. It was a nice transition.

It’s late now but I won’t tell you about today as I need things to write about tomorrow. No I will tell you. I want to force myself to remember to add ten more acts to my You Probably Haven’t Heard list.

I was going to go out tonight and see the amazing Joshua Garcia but between the weather turning bad and my spending half the day sleeping I probably won’t. As I write that I realized that I’m no longer sleepy and I’m tempted. I’ll have to make sure it hasn’t been canceled.

I didn’t have a great night’s sleep. If the breath right strip is not properly placed my breathing problems interfere with my sleep. At least now, most nights I wake up rested. I used up my last eggs for breakfast. The question was, is it worth getting dressed and going out when there’s a good chance the store will be out of eggs. As I’m sure you know, if there is a hint of snow people worry that there will never be deliveries again and empty the shelves of perishables. I hate when I need milk or eggs before a snowstorm. I was still up in the air when I noticed that I had a text from CVS, I had prescriptions waiting for me. That mean I was going out anyway so of course I went for eggs. I was shocked to find that the dollar store where I buy my eggs was fully stocked. Are people in this area of the Bronx more intelligent than others and know that snow doesn’t mean the end of civilization? I am proud of my neighborhood. The store is in Norwood, the other side of Mosholu parkway. I live in Bedford Park.

I have a feeling that tonight, and maybe quite a bit over the next few days I’ll be sitting home drinking hot chocolate. Damn! I should have bought mini-marshmallows. I’m not going out just for them.