today and I’ve got band practise soon. Next week is Fat Tuesday. In Louisiana the Mardi Gras season marks the beginning of preparations for Easter, falling between Epiphany and Lent. The season culminates on Fat Tuesday, which falls on Feb. 17 this year. The date changes each year in conjunction with Easter, which falls on April 5 this year. There’s more to the story but I don’t have time. You can look it up yourself. My relationship to this is that the Polish Bakery in Florida, NY bakes special donuts called Pasczkis at this time of the year. As far as I know it’s the only time you can get them. They’re very decadent but if you only have them occasionally what’s the harm, right?
Unless it turns you into a murdering gunperson it’s all good. Last night the fucking ice started melting, and of course when it froze in the early morning hours it left a sheet of ice on the front porch. This is perfect. I have a delivery coming today, and the last thing I need is the delivery guy falling on his ass and dropping my parcel. It’s 39F outside right at this moment so it will hopefully start to liquify and not cause too much of a problem. These are the issues of the day here in New York. Why people choose to live here is beyond me, but then people are crazy.
Police didn’t want to offend him by “misgendering” him so they called him a “gunperson”
The Pogues drummer Andrew Ranken has died. There seems to be an epidemic of rock and rollers kicking the bucket this year. This cat was 72, which isn’t considered old these days. No cause of death was announced. Ai in a search engine is really useful now, so if you type in “how many rock musicians have died in 2026” You get an instant list.
I won’t post it here but it includes the founding member of the Grateful Dead Bob Weir, Three Dog Night member Chuck Negron, Fred Smith, Blondie’s bassist and Brad Arnold, lead singer of Three Doors Down. There are more to the list I’m certain, these are just the hit makers in the top ten. It’s only the middle of February, but let’s not get maudlin.
Breaking News Just in from the NY Post….”Greg Brown, founding guitarist of alt-rock band Cake and the man behind the group’s breakout hit “The Distance,” has died suddenly at age 56.
“It is with heavy hearts that we share the news of Greg Brown’s passing after a brief illness,” his bandmates announced. “Greg was an integral part of CAKE’s early sound and development. His creative contributions were immense.” The band did not provide a cause of death but said he suffered a “brief illness.”
WTF is going on? I think I know the answer, but I’ll let you the reader to ponder this.
There’s a hell of a band in the promised land, that’s for sure. Let’s not forget that Elvis died when he was only 42, so these blokes in their 70’s aren’t doing too bad I suppose, except that they’re dead now. Despite it all, Willie Nelson at 92 lives on, Paul McCartney is 83, Mick Jagger is 82 and Keef Richards, who refuses to ever lay down is also 82. Long may they rock!
Good Day.
Andrew the drummer kicks it off on the harmonica