Jem… Chapter 130

*Before…
Rayne’s like. “Songs come right out of the blue sometimes and then it’s like getting it down while you have it because it can go away just as quick.”

Brooklyn’s nodding and she’s reading the guitar sheet. “Write it out and then we can get into the groove in rehersal.”

And with that she gets up and heads out and Kim and Rayne and I do the dishes up fast and I can hear Brooklyn on her guitar and she’s playing. *I want Candy* already and she has the amps cranked and it’s still a cool song and we actually finish really fast and we almost run out to join in with her for rehersal.

You know that you love what you’re doing when you run to go and do it.

*And Now…

Rehearsal’s actually pretty great with all of the great other stuff that happened between Rayne and I today and how good that was and then the song it was sort of like a bonus that came along with this new bit of the relationship and all.

I love doing this even with us just doing this in our makeshift studio sort of living room space and I love how just utterly downplayed we are in our relaxed clothes and just jamming it out and playing and a lot of this is for tonight’s show and we’ve got so much of this down now it’s not getting routine but it’s getting fun to play.

The better you get at playing and doing this ideally it’s supposed to be more fun and there’s this sort of zing that goes through you when the chords are all good and you’re hitting the right notes and timing and everything.

And it’s fun just playing with each other but it’s not just playing it’s notes on notes and how we will play a chord or can hold a note or a cymbal strike and even like choreography stuff since I mean we’re not dancers and stuff and we’re not doing a music video like with dancing and stuff but it’s important to get stage moves down and have that as part of your look so you actually come across as being polished.

In a show it’s called hitting your marks.

We get done and it’s actually pretty cool that Molly and Carmen and Mike are clapping and doing the fan whistle thing even though they’ve seen so much of this before and we’re in that playing rush and sweaty and thirsty and I grab some orange juice and some water and we have a few drinks and then we wipe the gear down as we pack it up for the gig.

Carmen volunteers. “Hey get showered and changed and I’ll do hair and make-up again if you want.”

I nod looking at the girls. “I’m in she’s good.”

Brooklyn nods. “I looked killer last time too so that’s a yep.”

Kimmie just… “Whooo-Hoo!” and she high fives Carmen as she runs up stairs. “Dibs on the shower Max is coming to the show!”

Okay that’s actually good that he is for him I think and well for us and really good for Kimmie and I run up the stairs following her. “So is he bringing the baby?”

“No! His mom’s away with her at her sisters so he’s got a night off and I might just have him for the night like after the show!”

I lean on the doorway as she’s stripped down and has hopped into the shower. No I’m not inside and the door’s still closed but we’re talking through it anyway.

“So are you guys going to go out on a date or do you have something else planned?”

“Honestly I could really, really use a good banging because I’m so having a Kaylee time right now.”

“A Kaylee time?”

“Nothin between my legs that hasn’t run on batteries.”

“Oh…and that’s a bad thing?”

She raises her voice. “Heck yeah when you and Rayne are getting it on and Brook and Mike are doing it and now Molly and Carmen are getting it on and there’s poor lonely Kimmie left to flick her bean while she hears everyone getting to have like super happy fun time.”

Flick her bean. I end up snerking at that one.

“But you’re not going to jump his bone then?”

“No…not planning to, max’s been through some stuff and I really don’t think that he and the whole fling kind of thing is what he’s looking for. And I actually don’t want to be like really slutty or anything with him and stuff so that he’s like thinking of that while he’s thinking of me later.”

“Second base?”

“Heck yeah if he goes for it. I love that.”

“You do?”

“Uhm yeah…Kimmie wasn’t always as dry as a monk. I’ve have boyfriends and stuff before.”

“Oh… like well okay I didn’t know that I mean I kind of thought that you sorta might be into girls and stuff.”

“Well I actually think I’m like pansexual and stuff. I thought that I was Bi but someone told me that Bi people weren’t generally into like trans people or like gender queer types and I’m like one of those people that’s like looking around and all I can see is all of these really hot and amazing people.”

“Oh well that’s cool.”

Kimmie comes out and she’s got a towel wrapped around her hair and herself and she grins at me and then she says kind of that sort of just me and her low. “If you and Rayne never happened I would be so trying to be with you angel and I’d be having one of those harness things and I’d be introducing you girl to my Long-Duck-Dong.”

I squeak. “Kimmie!”

She heads to her room chortling as she goes. But she turns around when she gets to her door and does this whole Sixteen Candles thing. “Heeey Sexy girlfriend!” before she heads inside and I’m laughing myself silly because well I’m having a happy thing and a happy moment and stuff and I head to my room and to get my things for showering and really getting into full on Jem mode. I’m gonna call it that because as Angel I’m for the most part really just able to go around as me and not have to like worry and stuff about getting found out.

Jem’s different so it’s going to take more effort so that’s like almost kind of this whole thing with like me wearing this sort of holo-girl me over the real girls me.

I actually do really like that Cartoon and we have it here on DVD.

I like 80’s tunes and I like 80’s movies too…Dad and Mom had a lot of them and I loved then too when I used to watch them in my room while reading music magazines and writing music.

Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club, Ferris Beuller, Say Anything, Pretty in Pink, Back to the future and all of those things that have sort of become like pop culture stuff these days.

I don’t know maybe it’s not having friends for so long and spending so much time with Mom and Dad that I’m like twenty-five or thirty years out of date.

But the girls are into it too so that’s actually cool and stuff and there’s really nothing like a good movie with a good sound track.

I shower and that’s still kind of new relationship oh new.

I mean I can’t believe how much that I’m thinking about my butt while I’m in the shower…and the way that we had been making love and it’s not a gay thing because like I guess some girls like it and stuff and I…well it’s more than Rayne’s fingers and it’s…I have a new sexual thing, I have a new way of being with Rayne and because she’s into it sort of this new way to feel desirable.

Which isn’t remotely the point of me and my transition and stuff but this sort of feeling IS important to me while I’m in a relationship and finding new and good for both of us things in a relationship is actually very much yayness.

And after some gripping of the butt and some feeling of the butt and some in the mirror drying off looks at the butt I have to say I think that I actually might have a nice butt.

Hmmm… go PAIS?

It’s strange not doing my hair and my make-up and getting dressed instead and that my tight mini pair of panties that are skimpy and lacy but they’re my control ones and tame the problem area and then I have a sort of normal pair of underwear…well not normal underwear not for the show and tonight I’m wearing black stretch sateen ones with a lace sort of trim.

Yep I’m going black tonight sort of Black panties and my corset vest and I go with a short black skirt because it’s Tuesday night and it’s a fun nigh and I don’t want to be just Jem in the pinks and whites I want to be that Jem the looks good with the black and pink.

And a black satin ribbon with my plastic pink heart dollar-store necklace and then some glow in the dark and other fun cheap bangles and jewelry and then I head down to get into Carmen’s kitchen salon and wait with the others that had gotten cleaned up and stuff since I was doing my thing.

Carmen is in full swing and I can smell like stuff for perms and hot curling irons and she’s doing little dabs of this and things of that and she’s all over the place but in like this knows what she’s doing way.

I look at Brooklyn who’s leaning way back and her hair’s wet and straight back and there’s like stuff on the tips like foil and Kimmie’s checking herself out and the fact that her hair’s got these tips that goes from navy to light blue at the very ends and she has a top-knot done and her make-up is like blues and greens and some metallic for her eyes and all and then there’s this really killer frost blue lipstick.

She looks actually kind of awesome in the band tee with the star-scape shirt with the nebula butterfly design and she’s got a black skorts on and she’s got her punker boots on and definitely a push up bra on.

I give her the thumbs up and she grins. “I so totally like this.”

Then I see Rayne and she’s wearing a sleeveless turtleneck thin sweater that’s so doing that whole amazing sweater boob thing and she’s got to be wearing one of her better support bras because she has serious lift and divide and the sweater’s just hugging so she’s way more to that two really perfect black sweater bound boobs than the boobshelf.

And tight leather pants and here nice sexy chunky heel boots and all of that makes me want to just.

Yeah there’s a serious attraction and relationship thing when you get all revved up over when an outfit and a look makes your girlfriend all wow looking.

And then there’s the hair which she has long in those sort of black tumbled wave like Amy Winehouse used to have. Seriously Rayne has hat kinda smoky sultry sameness to her but with being French-Canadian instead.

And then Carmen’s working on me and my hair and she’s re-touching my colors while they’re wet and it’s a non-permanent kind of dye actually with us using this diluted sugar-free Kool-Aid powder mix from the packet and stuff.

It like washes out after a few times and it’s actually her taking my wet hair and using strawberry Kool-Aid with cream conditioner which makes a pretty strong pink and then it’s letting it set and me waiting while Mike and Molly and the others are loading stuff and I can hear Billy and Davey here too.

Then Carmen does Brooklyn’s hair or she finishes it by using this whole flat iron deal and instead of Brook’s usual mass of red whindy curls she’s got these long red tresses that Carmen actually does some sort of braid work strands at the back and then she uses a pony tail elastic to do a pony tail and there’s something else called a clip-fan and then the braids are used to hide it all while her pony tail sort of fans out and does this sort of fancy fall that looks really good and classy and kinda rocking and then there’s parts of those braids hanging down in between that and she even has like two long bangs of hair that are falling down and framing her face and all of that makes her make-up pop.

And that’s this whole long lashes and smoky eye effect that shows off the green while there’s some orange-red eyeliner done in that sort of cat-eye thing that’s so popular these days and this sort of deep tangerine lipstick and Brooklyn has this sort of skater-girl meets Celtic pop-punk look going on.

And that’s like totally set with this casual cool look with one of our red band tees and she’s got her torn and feathered black jeans and her red-canvas sneakers.

Personally this whole look so fits her for the show but I think that Brooklyn could so rock a hot little red dress too.

And I’m kind of grinning when it comes to getting my hair washed out and blow dried and styled because of the whole sort of me and the Jem thing and well we’re not exactly it but we’re a kind of real life looking Jem and The Holograms…actually though with the band tees we really do look like a band that would be called Starlight Butterfly.

My hair actually is a sort of a lot of work and it’s not, Carmen does this thing with styling gel and then it’s this hair dryer and comb and sort of fluff and set and getting all that volume like I try to do and she’s way better at and I actually have all the length going on too but the top and front is all Jem spiky fluff or… kind of like that whole Tina Turner thing except that it’s this sort of soft pink and it looks good.

And it just actually gets better with the make up for me which is foundation and blended blush for my cheeks in like just a little amount and then I have the pinks and deeper pinks and corals all around my eyes and with that whole like almost but not quite eye mask of make-up.

And some bubble-gum pearl luster lipstick.

And I kind of look wow.

Actually we all look pretty wow right now and I’m so seriously thinking of maybe we could like work something out where Carmen actually does this for us in a real and employed sort of way.

I get one of my little ideas and I get pictures of all of us and what she did and maybe someday if she wants to like really do this then maybe this can be like the whole start of her portfolio?

I know, I know Carmen might not want this like at all but it’s sort of a just in case.

And then there’s my other song idea that I share with the girls as we’re getting ready to go and the girls like it and I go to the computer in the living room and register the songs just in case and print off the sheets and the lyrics for them and take the highlighter to the stuff that I want to use.

And it’s not even really a show thing but it’s kind of like a thing for The Pine Tree.

Then we’re all packed and we’re ready for the show and we head off again while all in caravan with Billy and Davey on their bikes and Dad and Uncle Mitch there too and then there’s Josie who meets us partway with her truck and she’s actually with Jake and then I see that there’s a line up outside with people as we’re passing by and going out back.

It’s not like a big line but there’s a line and there’s people that are there wearing our tee’s and that’s really kind of cool to see and stuff and there’s some excited whistles going on when they see us and that’s pretty cool and we start to unload and Kimmie’s bouncing on her feet and waving while she’s draining a can of Redbull and I can hear some girl yell at us from the line. “I love you Roxy!”

And that’s hella cool actually.

I mean I love Rayne and she’s my girlfriend but Kimmie and I have been really tight since I set foot in the house and all of this sort of started and she’s my best friend and…and it’s like supremely cool to see drummers get love.

And there are not that many girl drummers out there really not in like the whole smaller bands and stuff so there’s definitely this whole kind of cool girl power kind of thing.

All in all we’re pretty pumped up heading in and setting up and the place has done some more like cool changes and stuff.

There’s different wall light fixtures that look like they do different lighting and there’s some flood light sort of lighting directly on the food counters and on at the bar top itself and then there’s more room for people with these little standing tables being brought in instead of some of the regular tables that are being moved out back to their loading dock and into a big long haul truck trailer that’s parked there.

Okay that looks familiar I think that might be one of the old ones Dad had back in the scrap yard? I mean it’s not road worthy but it could be used to be a good storage spot and get things right out of the way.

Hmm…go dad?

And those tiny standing tables are like just big enough for a stool and like some little bites and a drink or two while giving the common floor and the dance floor more room.

And the kitchen is going full steam as we’re setting up and I see one of the girls chalking up a placard for out front and doing the specials board too with all sorts of finger foods or like small bites sort of like those tapas bar kinds of things like last time and they look and they smell good.

A Maple and dark beer braised pork belly with a ground pretzel crust topped fried and topped with a mustard mayo combination and black pepper.

And a local pickerel fried tempura fingering with a saffron and siracha aioli with lemon.

And an Anaheim chili ring that’s been breaded and battered and served with a sticky braised fig.

And two bacon roasted chestnuts with brown sugar and black pepper praline coating.

There’s also a Thai coconut curry marinated chicken tender with toasted coconut breading and a drizzle of roasted mango yogurt sauce.

And a vegan roasted brussel sprouts with white balsamic glaze rolled in micro greens and finished in a serving of celery and green apple dice and flaked salt.

There other stuff and some of it’s some of that old stuff but others it’s not and they have like those Chinese soup spoons only they’re like wooden handled and plain black ceramic and I small bowls of my brittle and the hot rosemary and pepper mixed nuts out on the tables and we’re pretty much ready as mike is all set up and Josie’s actually running our swag table over in the corner which is new and cool and Carmen’s sitting with Molly and munching on the brittle and nut bowl that someone gave them and then they start to let people in.

And there must have been a lot more people that gathered waiting while we did set up and some definite new faces as they’re snapping pictures and selfies and I head up to the mic.

“Good evening everyone and welcome to SLB’s Tuesday night oh my god my week started way too soon fun jam.”

People actually cheer and whistle and there’s some laughter which is good because I was actually trying to be funny.

“We’re going to be doing just a little mix of warm up and sound checks before we crank it all out and so in the spirit of the night and having fun get some drinks try all of the cool food and stuff and have fun.”

There some more whistles and stuff and we don’t really, really need to do what I said but I want the place to fill up and drink and eat some for the house so I kind of came up with like playing some sort of little song blurbs as a kind of thing to try.

*Champagne Supernova* By Oasis…

Someday you will find me
Caught beneath the landslide
In a champagne supernova in the sky
Someday you will find me
Caught beneath the landslide
In a champagne supernova
A champagne supernova in the sky

And it’s like just a sort of blurb of the song and the others are too but they’re all kind of cool sort of booze songs.

*Whiskey man* By Molly Hatchet

Hey whiskey man, you're running as hard as you can,
You drink your whiskey too much more than you can stand.
You have your highs, you have your lows,
Nobody knows which way you go….

And Brooklyn’s like got the guitar just frigging nailed on that little part and that is kind of sort of this almost jazz-country rock and like all tunes even a blurb there’s a mood and we jump from that into doing.

*Margaritaville* By Jimmy Buffet… yeah really old and it’s at the same time a really drinky kind of tune.

Nibblin on sponge cake
Watchin the sun bake
All of those tourists covered with oil
Strummin my six-string
On my front porch swing
Smell those shrimp they're beginnin to boil

Wastin away again in margaritaville…
Searching for my lost shaker of salt.
Some people claim that there's heartbreak to blame
But I know it's nobodys fault…

Okay that one’s fun, because there’s several people that are part of that older set that are calling out some of the lyrics and singing along and this is still Ontario and unless you like really stick to Much Music and all the young people’s radio stations then you’re going to hear older and classic rock.

And this is all really good because the mood is building to sing along and the drinks are coming and I see as we switch over to the next song the bartender and Mr. Walker who’s behind the bar working now mixing a pitcher of margaritas.

And we go from that into *Red, Red Wine.* By UB40

Red, red wine
Go to my head
Make me forget that I
Still need her so

Red, red wine
It's up to you
All I can do, I've done
But memories won't go
No, memories won't go

I'd have thought
That with time
Thoughts of her
Would leave my head
I was wrong
And I find
Just one thing makes me forget

Red, red wine…

That’s actually a really great, great song and it’s pretty well know and like we’ve been doing we’re like suggestively playing and that’s a mellow enough song to mellow the mood up to us going into.

*Tequila Sunrise.* By The Eagles

Oh, and it's a hollow feelin'
When it comes down to dealin' friends
It never ends

Take another shot of courage
Wonder why the right words never come
You just get numb

It's another tequila sunrise
This old world still looks the same
Another frame

And that’s just that kind of song that leads so well into us playing. *Do You Like Pina Coladas?*
And it’s pretty funny just that were doing another Jimmy Buffet song.

So I wrote to the paper, took out a personal ad
And though I'm nobody's poet, I thought it wasn't half bad

"Yes, I like Pina Coladas and getting caught in the rain
I'm not much into health food, I am into champagne
I've got to meet you by tomorrow noon and cut through all this red tape
At a bar called O'Malleys where we'll plan our escape"

So I waited with high hopes and she walked in the place
I knew her smile in an instant, I knew the curve of her face
It was my own lovely lady and she said, "Oh, it's you?"
Then we laughed for a moment and I said, "I never knew"

"That you liked Pina Coladas and getting caught in the rain
And the feel of the ocean and the taste of the champagne
If you like making love at midnight in the dunes on the cape
You're the lady I've looked for, come with me and escape"

If you like Pina Coladas and getting caught in the rain
If you're not into yoga, if you have half a brain
If you like making love at midnight in the dunes on the cape
Then I'm the love that you've looked for, write to me and escape

Yes, I like Pina Coladas and getting caught in the rain
I'm not much into health food, I am into champagne
I've got to meet you by tomorrow noon and cut through all this red tape
At a bar called O'Malleys where we'll plan our escape

And this one…this song was one of those that had people singing along and a lot of the people all singing along with us and it’s like kind of a longer blurb or the song with like three quarters of it pretty much but it’s kind of a classic tune and again people are drinking and they’re singing and they’re having fun and we’re all warmed up.

“And we’re all warmed up everyone…so grab a drink, grab a friend come on out and dance, dance, dance.”

We go write into the high powered pop sounds that comes along with *Love Shack* By the B52’s and that’s got them dancing as it’s got a really nice like funk to it and everything.

And funk is a really good lead in friend to going into *Soul Sister* By Train and that’s when we get the great big sing alongs while they’re dancing.

I have a mental chuckle to myself if we do the Halloween show if we can get the crowd to just yell brains when Left side brains comes up in the lyrics when we do the show at The Cat.

That would be pretty cool.

We go from that into *Oh Love* By Greenday and that’s a good tune with a great sound and it’s a little upbeat at the same time as being a bit of yay happy sigh music and stuff.

And just because it’s such, such a great band and totally underrated we’re doing *My Best Friend’s Hot* and right after that *Because I’m Awesome* By The Dollyrots.

And that’s when we go into *Magical Power Panties* By Starlight Butterfly and with me playing and it’s Kimmie belting out the vocals and us backing him up and I can sort of see a few of her fans losing it hard and screaming.

And it’s gets more intense when she gets out from behind the drums and Rayne gets behind them to do the drums and Roxy-Moogle skip dances up to the edge of the stage and she’s really giving it her all with the singing and then the happy shake it up wild girl dancing while we’re playing the instrumental riffs.

I give her the nod and signal the change over and we both are singing together and sharing the mic as we’re singing *Pocket full of sunshine* By Natasha Beddingfield.

And that actually works because to really get a good handle on the “take me away” ‘s that are in the song you want more that the one singer so you can layer it and this let’s Kimmie and me actually rock it and share stage time and I do the hold her hand up and there’s some cheering from the rest of the crowd there for us and Brooklyn’s playing the high speed happy bouncy intro on the guitar that gets Kimmie skipping back to the drums and her and Rayne switch and I’m playing guitar layered with Brooklyn until Kimmie’s hitting the drums for the big loud intro into *I Want Candy* By Bow Wow Wow.

And that’s a fun bump and grind girls song that has them singing out in that kind of brit-pop way. It’s actually really the same sort of mold of tune as some of the Spice Girls stuff.

And of course that leads into us playing one of our very best covers. *Walk like an Egyptian.* By The Bangles.

I love this song because I can sing fast and I can dance like a spazz while we’re doing the song and it has huge crowd response with the “Oh-wey-oh!”

And that gets us to break and I yell into the mic. “Breaktime, time for some drinks we’ll be back in fifteen!”

I head off stage and Rayne is with me and Brooklyn does this little riff as we’re doing that and Kimmie bounced to the mic as the guitar did this… dun-da, dadda-dun, da-dadda, dun-da, dadda-dun… all in like guitar chords.

And she says. “Tequila…”

We head backstairs and right into using the staff bathroom first and that’s a relief and then we’re switching out and it’s that wash our faces and get cleaned off and let the skin breathe while we have water and some orange juice and things actually I have a peach flavored Yop and that’s a yogurt drink and I have a some water as I get a take-out café cup of green tea before getting my make-up back on but a lot less of it and I go out from out back with five minutes or so to spare and I go to Josie and give her and Jake a hug and help sell some of our things.

Tee’s and posters and pictures of us and then there’s some of those phone cases? And there’s guitar picks too.

“Hey Josie thanks for manning the shirt booth, and Jake you really didn’t have to.”

He shrugs. “I was out with Jo anyways and I kind of like seeing what you do and how you do in different places. It was interesting thing you did with the songs and that warm up.”

I grin and little. “Well it was just something to try really and some of those songs would be better like suited for The Amsterdam so you actually might like want to have some of those tossed into the playlist mix for the bar when you’re not having live acts and things.”

Jake nods. “So you think that you could actually do me up a playlist?”

I nod. “Sure thing I’ll work you up a few mixed tape CD’s for the bar to like play for like amusement and some for like what I think might actually get people that are there in the maybe dancing mood.”

“Thanks Angel that’d be awesome.”

A couple of the people that were buying stuff and getting me to sign it and stuff agree and we talk a little about Ontario rock and I look at them. “How about you guys stick around after the show here if you want and we can revisit this conversation and stuff for the whole SLB podcast show we sometimes do and stuff on You Tube?”

There some nods and some big smiles and a few “Definitely!” and “That’d be cool!” and they leave and I’m grinning and I see Bobby Fraser come up and he buys three shirts two smalls and a medium.

I smile at him and slip around the table and hug him. “Hey Uncle Bobby.”

“Hey You.” He hugs me back and picks me up and I squeak and when he sets me down I’m slipping the flash drive into his hand and he smiles and there’s this look of like approval in his eyes like I did good.

I ask. “So the shirts?”

“One for the girlfriend and she’s got two daughters who follow you on Facebook and You Tube.”

“Well that’s cool did you bring them?”

“No, she couldn’t get a babysitter and this is pretty much too adult for the girls.”

“Too bad maybe we’ll get to see them another time though.”

He nods. “Maybe, I think the girls would like it.”

I smile… “You should go and hang out with Uncle Remy and Uncle Mitch for a while at least.”

He nods. “Well I was going to anyways and see the whole show and all since I haven’t seen you girls perform a whole lot.”

I hug him again. “Good, I’ve got to get back.”

He nods and I slip through the crowd and I’m saying hi to the people I do know and shaking hands to some of the new ones too and actually sign a few more things and do some actual autographs and the like before getting back on stage and Rayne passes me that whole fried pepper ring and the fig thing and I eat part of it sharing it with her and actually feeding it to her in that second half of the bit thing and there’s some cheers and some clapping.

It’s good too it’s a hot pepper but not like too hot and it’s got that green pepper sort of flavor too and it’s literally cooked like an onion ring and it has this sweet and sticky glazed or braised fig that has all these other flavors too and it’s sweet and chewy and sort of salty and it’s hot and you couldn’t like eat a lot of these or I couldn’t but I can so see how these would actually really lend to wanting a drink afterwards or like go really well with like a beer or like a glass of red.

And people seeing us eat some of the stuff are buying it too and there’s a definite sort of post dancing kind of run on the food and more drinks and I chew mine and give the crowd the thumbs up and sort of food mouth say in the mic.

“It’s all good but the pepper ring and the fig it really good…get a few before they’re gone.”

It’s actually kind of cool the nod and smile I’m getting from Mr. Walker and then I’m having a drink of my tea and then Rayne’s strapping my guitar on me and she’s kissing me too at the same time and then she does that walking backwards to her bass as we get ready to start the second half of the show.

The lights dim down and I start to play and Brooklyn picks it up and we’re slowly sliding into that slower second half where people get to slow dance and listen to good tunes and enjoy the whole night out and food and drink buzz that comes from it.

I say into the mic. “It’s the second half and it’s Tuesday so I think we all know the words to this by now.”

And I start going into *Brian Wilson* By The Barenaked Ladies.

Drove downtown in the rain….
Nine-thirty on a Tuesday night (The crowd all says Tuesday night really loudly.)
Just to check out the late-night
Record shop. (And that’s like everyone in unison.)

Call it impulsive
Call it compulsive,
Call it insane;
But when I'm surrounded
I just can't
Stop.

It's a matter of instinct
It's a matter of conditioning
It's a matter of fact.

You can call me Pavlov's
Dog,
Ring a bell and I'll salivate,
How'd you like that?
Dr. Landy tell me
You're not just a pedagogue

'Cause right now I'm

Lying in bed
Just like Brian Wilson did
Well I am
Lying in bed
Just like Brian Wilson did.

So I'm lying here
Just staring at the ceiling tiles,
And I'm thinking about
Oh what to think about.

Just listening and relistening
To Smiley Smile,
And wondering if this is some kind of creative drought
Because I'm

Lying in bed
Just like Brian Wilson did
Well I am
Lying in bed
Just like Brian Wilson did.

And if you want to find me
I'll be out in the sandbox,
Wondering where the hell all the
Love has gone,
Playing my guitar and
Building castles in the sun and
Singing "Fun, Fun, Fun" (The crowd gets in on this too.)

Lying in bed
Just like Brian Wilson did
Well I am
Lying in bed
Just like Brian Wilson did.

I had a dream….
That I was three hundred pounds
And though I was very heavy
I floated 'til I couldn't see the ground
I floated 'til I couldn't see the ground
Somebody help me,
I couldn't see the ground
Somebody help me because I'm

Lying in bed
Just like Brian Wilson did
Well I am
Lying in bed
Just like Brian Wilson did.

Drove downtown in the rain
Nine-thirty on a Tuesday night (They’re all calling out Tuesday night again.)
Just to check out the late-night…

Record shop. (And they do that everyone altogether shout out.)

Call it impulsive
You can call it compulsive,
You can call it insane;
But when I'm surrounded
I just can't
Stop……..