Taichung Jazz Festival and Halloween

10-25-14

      November 15 is the next open mike at Red Room in Taipei. I will be there and read a story, poem, sing a song with my blues harp, or a combination of two or three. It is the fifth anniversary of Red Room and there are events starting at 1pm. 

      Tonight I am going  to Peoples' Park where there's a culmination of the Taichung Jazz Festival.

      Next Saturday will be the Halloween Party with bands  I already bought two tickets for me and Leona. That same night there will be a free concert of Taiwan classic singers on the Westside. Leona wants to go to both. 

   

      We had a nice day yesterday going to Yi-Song Street. On Yi-Song Street we went to a shop and spent 1000NT having plastic coating shrunk covering my HTC smart phone to protect it from scratches. The phone was over $300us; 

      I hear the loud speakers on trucks of election candidates. Leona and I hope Mr. Hu, who has been the KMT mayor of Taichung for thirteen years loses. He has neglected the old city and moved the seat of government to the exclusive Westside. He is just now allowing the building of one elevated light rail and a random bus lane on Taichung Port Road (now called Taiwan Blvd.) We hope DPP candidates win locally as they seem to care more for Taiwanese people though, nationally, they've abandoned independence but support American interests. 

10-26-14

      Just as the Taichung Jazz Festival was really rock, Jack Bruce was, too. Mark Kaplan e-mailed that Jack died yesterday. There was nothing more for Jack Bruce to do but live a long life; he died at 71. He had created all his great music years ago and got the credit he deserved at the Cream reunion concert more recently. It looks like I will play "Train Time" at Red Room on Nov. 15 in his memory. 

      The Taichung Jazz Festival went on for a week. Today is the last day. Leona and I went last evening. I'm glad we did. I didn't listen to any of the music but we strolled around in the dense crowd and visited some of the food stalls. We went into Eslite Dept. Store's music/book department and I got Anthem of the Sun on vinyl for $33 us. I've never heard it before in forty-five years since it's been out. I also got Dark Horse CD and an East Village Other CD of recordings they made in the late 60's. Everything I bought was from more than forty years ago. 

     Last evening Leona rode the scooter and we went to Peoples' Park for an 80's classic Taiwan music concert. It was free. We sat and relaxed for three hours sitting on a ledge. I had a little bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream to mellow me. Leona and I fit in perfectly with the crowd. I finally heard the music of the woman in the poster over my dresser in the dressing room on the second floor at 1210 Ave Y for eighteen years. She was standing in a forest wearing a shroud and looking down with long hair covering her face. She sounds like Enya. Not bad.

      After the show, after 10

pm when outdoor shows have to end, we got back on her scooter and went to find the place where the Halloween party was supposed to be held. On the way, we stopped off at a shabby night market and I ate unremarkable dumplings and smoked chicken tails. Leona then looked around for the night club and finally found it. It was a nice night club with a stage where we saw a few shitty bands try to play rock 'n' roll. The beat was good though and I moved my body wearing the evil mask I wore the night before and the year before at American Eagle's Halloween event. The 500NT ticket only entitled us to one fucking bottle of beer; not a mixed drink! I drank my beer with a straw through a slit in my mask. There were beautiful Ruskie women in flimsy maid outfits roving around arousing any schmuck who paid them to. Many people were dressed well or in costumes, except Leona; she wouldn't do something as 'silly' as wear a costume. She had fun there, I think, and even danced a little, but when she sat down and started fiddling with her new smart phone, I knew it was time to go; the evening wouldn't be getting better. 

      I suggested we leave. We left around midnight. Just as we were getting to the scooter, the ladies from American Eagle - Zoe, Alice, Kammy, Monalisa, and Monalisa's Russian friend - showed up all dressed up. Teacher Darren was going to be DJ-ing at 3am and they wanted to support him. In truth, if Leona wasn't there, I would have turned around and stayed to talk, dance, and drink with them. Instead, Leona took a photo of us and then we got on the scooter and left. Leona didn't know which way to go home but didn't ask me; I am good at directions. Finally, after going the wrong way, she mentioned she wasn't sure where to go and I pointed the way. We got home at 12:45.