Phantasmic Links 9.14.09

What a weekend! On Saturday morning, I got up at 5:30, drove to a train station, rode in to Manhattan, walked to the PATH station and took another train to New Jersey, where I walked another mile to find the doors of a club unexpectedly locked. Thankfully, one of the society members was across the street to ask me if anyone from my band had called me. Unfortunately, they had not, and the procession that was scheduled had been moved to Sunday because they feared rain. I'd gotten up early and traveled two hours for nothing.

I wasn't happy. I didn't have the Jersey band leader's phone number on me, but I did have the number for the son of my Brooklyn band leader, who was also supposed to be on the job. His father is usually good at relaying messages; the son, less so. He was shocked and appalled that I hadn't gotten the same phone call he had gotten the night before, and insisted that the Jersey guy never told him to call me. I got the Jersey guy's phone number and left him a voice mail with my home and cell numbers, mostly for the future. It would be better if he had a way to contact me directly. Not long after, he called back, deeply apologetic, telling me that he had asked the other kid to let me know. He offered to pay my travel expenses the next time he saw me, which was decent of him. As for Sunday, I was already booked with another band in the middle of the day, albeit for only three hours, but it fell right in the middle of the Jersey job. If it was in the morning, I could have done the second half of the Jersey gig, and if it was in the evening, I could have played in Jersey in the morning. It would have been too much, and I was exhausted from my journey and the stress.

Back in New York, the drummer son of the Brooklyn guy called me back to ask if I could do a gig with them on Saturday night that I previously would have been unavailable for. It involved a drive deep into Brooklyn that would have taken me well over an hour, and the job itself was only an hour. I was tired, I didn't think it was worth it, and I was still slightly fed up with the guy though maintaining my composure. So I went home, napped for a bit, took my mom to church, and then fell asleep again after dinner. I don't know why I was so tired; had I made the 12-hour procession I would have been in worse shape. I can't say I'm getting too old for this since there are guys in their 70s and 80s who do it. The oldest member of the Jersey band had been a 92-year-old clarinet player; I have no excuse. I'm not too old. I am older. I just have to deal with it.

Rough weekend. The week should be better, and maybe the best way to begin is with some great PHANTASMIC LINKS:

(1) This awesome commercial goes full circle to tell a story that, among other things, underlines why clowns are so scary...and deviously brilliant...
Hat Tip: B13.

(2) I don't know who this John Daker is, but he does a frightfully accurate impression of what I'd be like doing karaoke sober...

(3) Enjoy these cover versions of classic comic book covers.

(4) Regardez les vitrines des galeries de David Lynch.

(5) And here's a site full of people and things that totally look like other people and things.

(6) Dreaming Kittens. Could there be anything cuter?

(7) Al Franken can draw the United States from memory. I can't even draw Long Island without ending up with a deformed fish.

(8) I'm digging these twisted takes on Disney® Princesses.

(9) Some objects just don't seem right if made for two...

(10) 905 people at DragonCon dance to Michael Jackson's Thriller to set a new world record.

Have a link to a game, movie, article, or anything else you think might be “phantasmic”? E-mail me and it just might appear in an upcoming PHANTASMIC LINKS!