Gimme Shelter

The MTA Green Line trains each have a few benches just before the partition where the two cars are connected. Each bench, depending on the girth of the person, can easily seat four people.

On the way home, I managed to grab the seat just before the partition and an older gentleman took the other on the right. For a few stops the space between us remained empty.

Then we stopped at the next station and the train became flooded, mostly with the typical loudmouthed kids I’ve grown accustomed to ignoring. Two of said kids entered the train and sat…okay, squeezed between me and the gentlemen on the right.

And that’s when it happened.

Although I was listening to my iPod, I heard one of the girls plainly say, “Daayum, big people shouldn’t be sittin’ in these seats!” Her friend laughed.

I was about to say something but thinking of the whole “When ignorance is bliss…” thing I kept my mouth shut, but I did give her a dirty stare just as she looked over at me as if to say, “You ignorant fucking bitch.” They had no more smart remarks for the duration of the trip.

So in the last few weeks I’ve seen my XBOX get fried, there’s some asshole running around New York pretending to be me, I got stuck at a train station for an hour, and saw Anthony vomit on me and my father-in-law during a trip to the swap meet–while still in the car. And to top it all off, despite losing nearly 100 lbs., I get called a fatass by some dipshit kids while the U.S. economy continues to suck.

Gimme shelter. And here’s where I find it.

As you know, I dig music. Nothing is ever off-limits with me and I’m always excited when I find new stuff. But as a way to change my demeanor after having such a craptastic luck lately, I’m going to post a few songs that always do the trick for me.

The first video on the list is Nick Lowe’s “Half A Boy and Half a Man,” a tune I always enjoyed. It’s just a snappy little song that has very little wrong with it. (Note: embedding was disabled by user so you’ll have to click the link.)

The Fabulous Thunderbirds’ “Wrap It Up” is another one that puts a smile on my face. While the song itself is fun, I always thought the singer’s wearing of a beret was a strange nice touch as were the playing card suits on the drummer’s set. Yeah, and there’s lots of eye candy, too.

This one may fall under the “What the Hell Are You Thinking?” category, but whatever. I first heard The Real Tuesday Weld’s “Bathtime in Clerkenwell” on XM Kids one day and Anthony immediately took a liking to it. Then I showed him the video and he ended up liking it even more. As for me, I downloaded the MP3 and put it on all of my iPods–and it was made into a ringtone, too.

Finally, we have one perhaps you’ve seen before. Mesmerizing is not the word I’d use for this one; it’s more like visual and audio crack. I could probably watch this thing for hours and not blink, which leads me to believe I’ve got some serious problems. And the lead singer looks more like a drummer to me.

Anyway, there you go. Now if you’ll excuse me I’m gonna go grab my iPod Touch, hit the YouTube app and watch these videos from the comfort of my own bed. Which is exactly what I need at the moment.

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