well, it was SUCH a wonderful day Wednesday morning and so I took a stroll on the beach -this about 8 am – and it’s amazing how many people are out running and rollerblading and surfing and this and that. (quite different from Iraq I would say.) Then I took a walk down Mainstreet and grabbed a paper and all the questions were on the Lakers and Spurs game that very night. i got a cup of coffee (of the sweet Kona variety), which clocked in at $1.80, which, to me, is ridiculous. The folks at $tarbucks (or 5IVEBUCKS, as Gene called them!) outta where ski masks, the way they rob you. from there i drove down to Borders to see if there were anything interesting to buy, bookwise, though I wasn’t finished with the Wilde bio plus the New Guy gave me a book on the French Revolution. some people just like reading about governmnets being overthrown. oh by the way, what’s the score on the war on terror, as i’ve lost count. and speaking of our brothers and sisters over there fighting the bad fight, a certain army guy fought on those same grounds about 13 years ago And he told me (once he was home) some really awful stories about the conduct of some of his Army brethen. Now, NOT to knock the south but i want to atleast mention that every story involved rather uneducated people (of several races) from southern states. well, i won’t even print some of the things he told me that were done to iraqi soilders caught (British Soilders had the good sense NOT to be involved) by the US G.I.s but it was pretty sickening. But this is what happens in war, innit? our brothers and sisters get mamed and murdered. That’s history for you. well, back to our soilder who told me the story. now, he told me some of this in 1996 but gave me Rita and grizzly account a few years back, in 2001 i think. So, that leads me to think they probably urge these knuckleheads to run amuck, unofficially. but, hey, what’s the geneva convention but a peice of paper? anyways, the G.I. who told me is a guy named Carl Randle. My older brother. he’s back from war but he ain’t, er back, if you get my drift. and so i was thinking about ol Carl and his poems he wrote from those experiences and i wondered if you really can GIVE some one threir freedom? wasn’t it Tom Petty who said everybody had to fight to be free? a dn when you start quoting Tom Petty you know something’s wrong. ok, i like Tom Petty. bad example. SO, then i went to the Tavern and had a burger for lunch (it was burger madness) and then went home and figured out that i had to go to hollywood to get Scott Halper’s Wurlitzer electric keyboard. i showered at 4pm and set off and even with the short cuts i didn’t get to his house till 6pm! but i did my best. first i popped in VAN HALEN’S divER DOWN, headed east on Ocean Park. i then hit a right on Bundy (which turns into Centinella) and took that to Venice Bl where i made a left. i took that all the way to la Cienega, made a left and stayed that way to Wilshire, where i made a right at the larry Flynt BLDG (i confess, i voted for him for Govenor), and then a quick left at Orlando. i took Orlando to Melrose, made a right and then a left at fairfax and then a right on fountain…all teh way to just before Highland ave. grabbed Scotts keyboard and took a TOTALLY different way home. coming back, i took sunset BL to beverly glenn, made a left and took that to wilshire, made a right and plowed through westwood until i got to centinella, made a left and took that to the 10 fwy west. got off at lincoln and in 3 minutes was at BITTER REDHEAD. got there in 45 minutes! it was now 7pm so i unloaded and set up. no sooner had i set up some drunk started spilling beer everywhere so we had to block off the equipment and stuff. Deborah Stern was having a LAKER party at her house (which i was bummed i couldnt make) and wanted to know what station it was coming on, otherwise her party was gonna be missing the main attraction, right? i said i thought it was TNT but i wasn’t sure.or maybe i said NBC? i don’t recall. so then SAM shows up and we order some seafood from the Galley and watch the laker game and what a good game it was. i think the Spurs should market their own brand of toilet paper. cause, if it’s as soft as their play on the court it’s certain to be successful. around this time i was approashed by a woman with long black hair and a nose ring and some studs (if i remember correctly) the conversation went as follows: Her: your name is Mike, right? Me:right. Her: you used to live on 4th and ___________ street, right? Me: right Her: you used to have a piano in your living room, right? Me: You been reading my mail? (or using spyware?) she went on to say that her name was karen and that she used to be friends with my old house mate (from 10 years ago) named Helen (who was from Kent, England). Then i remembered karen, who came over really drunk and started banging on my piano! I told her Rusty lived there now but the piano was still there. she went back to her drink and we finished watching the lakers man handle those sissies from San Antonio. Then THE SPOILERS hit the stage and it was interesting but fun all the same. till the cops showed up and said we had to turn it down. then Rusty said something to Sam, which i didn’t really hear but i assumed it was a discussion over what song to play or not to play or something. Brook was laughing so that could mean anything. next thing i knew, we were packing up. afterwards, me and cookiehead and brook went to Tommy’s. brook bought me a burger which was nice. oh, and sam was nice enough to get me a shrimp pasta dish from the galley earlier (but het, that was around 8pm, ok?) so i got home about 1am and got a call from a really cool friend who was set to get a haircut and so i was intrigued as to what this new haircut would look like. and then i went to sleep…but not before recieving a bunch of silly texts from Alia (who was at the tavern) about her stupid cats! and. that, as they say, as all folks.

Mike Randle