Holy Hair Farmers Batman!
My sister was in town with my two nephews, Rogie, 6 and Tyler, 4. We went to a carnival on the lakefront in Whiting, IN. I can’t remember the last time I was in Whiting, on purpose or otherwise.
On the drive there I kept pointing out points of interest on Calumet Ave through Hammond, like the Hammond police station where she and my parents came to get me after an unfortunate “vehicular incident” involving myself and Car 141 belonging to Hammond’s finest.
The good thing about the carnival being on the lakefront was that there was a nice breeze. Since I didn’t plan on going on any of the rides, I was glad. It was not crowded at all at that time of day either. Tyler is big enough to go on just about any of the rides now, and he went on everything too.
The rides themselves were no problem for him, but he did have a little problem with the stairs for the “Roundup” (the one that you stand in a ring, which spins around, then lifts up at an angle.) He kind of missed the second step and fell off the side of the stairs, where there was no railing. This was about 5 feet, and when you are only around 3 feet tall, is quite a fall. He got the wind knocked out of him and scraped his elbow, but did no damage to his, as he calls it, “big bubbus head”.
I was off with my sister buying carnival treats and I saw my mom half-running to us. Funny how little things make you know something isn’t quite right, and I knew right away when I saw her something had happened. I saw my dad and a gaggle of carnies standing around him. He seemed ok, but they had paramedics come in and check him out just to be safe. The head carnie also gave us a bunch of free tickets and said he’d pay for the ambulance charge. Later on Tyler went back on the same ride, but this time my sister went with and made sure he got up & down the stairs ok!
After the falling fiasco, I was sitting in the shade when I saw a “long-haired freaky people” (which I used to be) guy walking past. I grew up on the “East Side” of Chicago, which is where Chicago meets Indiana & the lake. Whiting, IN was right next door, so I wasn’t surprised to see someone I knew, but I couldn’t believe it was my old friend Larry Roberts!
Larry and I had more than one adventure together, using involving some form of car trouble. The last time I saw Larry had to have been at least six or seven years ago. I haven’t talked to anyone from that whole group of people since New Years Eve, 1999. Funny how all the names and people don’t really go away because we were able to catch up for a minute and it was just like old times.
He has been playing with Novembers Doom since 1999. They’re doing pretty well, with a few albums out, a planned European tour, and should have their video played on the new Headbanger’s Ball. Now that will be weird, to see a guy who was my best friend on the Ball! It’s cool for him though, and nice to see that he and the drummer, Joe Nunez, who was also a friend of mine are having some success. Their music is a little too heavy and dark for my tastes, but they are all definitely very talented musicians!
I also found out that the infamous Willy Gee, another old friend, is a guitar tech for Megadeth's Glen Drover on the Gigantour! I remember him always being a big fan of Megadeth too so he's got to be happy. Busy as hell most likely, but happy! If he can avoid having to listen to all the crap that spews from Dave Mustaine's mouth it is the perfect job.
Larry is also the "Keeper of The Moder", the only known video in existence of me playing bass with my friend Ray’s band. "Moder" was a combination of his and the singer’s last name.
We played all covers at a city ward picnic in Calumet City, IL. It wasn’t even for all of Cal City, just one part. The show went ok, except for being interrupted for a woman to hand out the awards for "Best Garden" and "Greenest Lawn" during the middle of a set. Our opening act, "Sugar & Spice", was just like Salt-n-Pepa, only instead of hip, black rappers these were middle-aged white polka chicks.
The worst part is, if I remember clearly, I may have been wearing a Winger t-shirt. This was long before Stuart on Beavis & Butthead, but even so, Winger? I wish I could travel time and kick my own ass.
On the drive there I kept pointing out points of interest on Calumet Ave through Hammond, like the Hammond police station where she and my parents came to get me after an unfortunate “vehicular incident” involving myself and Car 141 belonging to Hammond’s finest.
The good thing about the carnival being on the lakefront was that there was a nice breeze. Since I didn’t plan on going on any of the rides, I was glad. It was not crowded at all at that time of day either. Tyler is big enough to go on just about any of the rides now, and he went on everything too.
The rides themselves were no problem for him, but he did have a little problem with the stairs for the “Roundup” (the one that you stand in a ring, which spins around, then lifts up at an angle.) He kind of missed the second step and fell off the side of the stairs, where there was no railing. This was about 5 feet, and when you are only around 3 feet tall, is quite a fall. He got the wind knocked out of him and scraped his elbow, but did no damage to his, as he calls it, “big bubbus head”.
I was off with my sister buying carnival treats and I saw my mom half-running to us. Funny how little things make you know something isn’t quite right, and I knew right away when I saw her something had happened. I saw my dad and a gaggle of carnies standing around him. He seemed ok, but they had paramedics come in and check him out just to be safe. The head carnie also gave us a bunch of free tickets and said he’d pay for the ambulance charge. Later on Tyler went back on the same ride, but this time my sister went with and made sure he got up & down the stairs ok!
After the falling fiasco, I was sitting in the shade when I saw a “long-haired freaky people” (which I used to be) guy walking past. I grew up on the “East Side” of Chicago, which is where Chicago meets Indiana & the lake. Whiting, IN was right next door, so I wasn’t surprised to see someone I knew, but I couldn’t believe it was my old friend Larry Roberts!
Larry and I had more than one adventure together, using involving some form of car trouble. The last time I saw Larry had to have been at least six or seven years ago. I haven’t talked to anyone from that whole group of people since New Years Eve, 1999. Funny how all the names and people don’t really go away because we were able to catch up for a minute and it was just like old times.
He has been playing with Novembers Doom since 1999. They’re doing pretty well, with a few albums out, a planned European tour, and should have their video played on the new Headbanger’s Ball. Now that will be weird, to see a guy who was my best friend on the Ball! It’s cool for him though, and nice to see that he and the drummer, Joe Nunez, who was also a friend of mine are having some success. Their music is a little too heavy and dark for my tastes, but they are all definitely very talented musicians!
I also found out that the infamous Willy Gee, another old friend, is a guitar tech for Megadeth's Glen Drover on the Gigantour! I remember him always being a big fan of Megadeth too so he's got to be happy. Busy as hell most likely, but happy! If he can avoid having to listen to all the crap that spews from Dave Mustaine's mouth it is the perfect job.
Larry is also the "Keeper of The Moder", the only known video in existence of me playing bass with my friend Ray’s band. "Moder" was a combination of his and the singer’s last name.
We played all covers at a city ward picnic in Calumet City, IL. It wasn’t even for all of Cal City, just one part. The show went ok, except for being interrupted for a woman to hand out the awards for "Best Garden" and "Greenest Lawn" during the middle of a set. Our opening act, "Sugar & Spice", was just like Salt-n-Pepa, only instead of hip, black rappers these were middle-aged white polka chicks.
The worst part is, if I remember clearly, I may have been wearing a Winger t-shirt. This was long before Stuart on Beavis & Butthead, but even so, Winger? I wish I could travel time and kick my own ass.
posted by DumbAscii at
7/03/2005
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