May 12 : "The Bastards Of Pizzofalcone"

A bunch of reject police officers from various precincts are dumped in together to finish out a few months at a city precinct that is being closed after its former members are on their way to jail for corruption! They supposedly will only close some loose ends and finish up some routine cases before the precinct is closed a few months from now.

Such is the background and basis for the Italian tv series, "The Bastards of Pizzofalcone", now available for streaming. It's based on the mystery novels by Maurizio de Giovanni.

One of the things I like about this series is that the characters and story lines are not cookie-cutter or formulaic like those in too many American mystery series. Sure, there's the traditional whodunit aspect, but there's more depth as it's interspersed with a close look at the comedy and tragedy of the characters' lives. The characters are multi-dimensional, and that applies to both the bad ones as well as the good ones. A good part of this character-driven series centers around the personal lives of the detectives. Indeed when the criminal is caught and brought to justice, that's not the end of the episode. We go on for another fifteen minutes as we follow each of the detectives back to their respective home environments where they face some of their own comedies and tragedies.

As you might guess, the plots mushroom from those routine cases into stories unexpectedly complex and intriguing. With a deeper sense of humanity than we see in many American series, this series is worth checking out. I'm hooked! (I'm well into the first season so far). And I should also mention the excellent cinematography along with the spellbinding architecture. And the good incidental music adds just the right textures.

The show is available for streaming on MHZ Choice. While it's a subscription service for a low $7.99 per month, you can get a 7-day free trial, and you can always sign up and cancel if this turns out to be the only show you want to look at. Here is the click to the main page for the series, where you can find a link to a short trailer which introduces all the characters: "The Bastards of Pizzofalcone" main page (CLICK HERE). Pic above is a screenshot I took from the trailer.

However, if you're adventurous and want to see more, you'll find many shows from many countries on MHZ, all listed by their country of origin. Here is their listing or breakdown "by country": Select a show "by country" listing (CLICK HERE).

As you can probably tell, I really like this series and highly recommend it, and I'm also a big fan of MHZ in general and recommend them as well.

Apr 13 : "Fake Flowers" - Daisychain (Chicago)

On a recent trip to Ortlieb's I saw Chicago band "Daisychain". I hadn't heard them before; it was my first time seeing them. They are, as their Bandcamp page describes, "a 4-piece, female-fronted blues/psych rock band based out of Chicago".

I was impressed by the guitar work at the show. And, after listening to their online samples, the best example of what I liked is in their song "Fake Flowers", which is the fifth track on their 2020 album "Daisychain EP". While I got the impression of the band members' playing as individual parts during the show, I feel it all comes together as a unified whole in the recorded versions. I'm in love with the instrumentals in this:

Daisychain doesn't appear to have any plans to come back East in the near future, but here is the click to their Facebook page where you can keep up-to-date with what they're doing. Daisychain on Facebook (CLICK HERE). (Pic above is from the band's Facebook page).

Apr 09 : "Moving Thru You" - The Dawn Drapes (Harrisonburg, VA + Philly)

On a recent trip to Johnny Brenda's I heard The Dawn Drapes. It was the first time I had seen them. I liked their show.

Here is one of their songs from a few years back, "Moving Thru You" :::

The Dawn Drapes · Moving Thru You

The Dawn Drapes doesn't have any other shows coming up soon, but here is a click to their Soundcloud page where you can hear more music: The Dawn Drapes on Souncloud (CLICK HERE). And here is the click to their Facebook page The Dawn Drapes on Facebook (CLICK HERE). Pic above is from their Facebook page.

Mar 30 : "If Diseases Were People" - "Spring Cleaning" - Foil Arms and Hog

Streaming across my Facebook page one day a few years ago was a skit done by the Irish comedy group, Foil Arms and Hog. I was immediately hooked and have been watching a lot of their bits since. While I enjoyed watching them over the internets, I still wished I could see them do a live show.

That wish came true when the group came to do a one-night show in Philly while on their USA-Canada tour. They did several new skits that I had never seen, and they incorporated a few audience members in some of the acts as well. Three guys form the group and they play different roles in each skit, sometimes even a variety of roles in the same skit. I marvel at the fact from minute to minute, their changes in posture and facial expressions (along with sometimes changes in wardrobe) help them become completely new characters.

Here is one of their sketches from 2019. While the sketch is three years old, it's subject of diseases is something we've all been thinking about over the last twenty-four months. This is "If Diseases Were People"

Foil Arms and Hog comes out with a new video each week. This is the most recent, from last week, March 24. This is "Spring Cleaning". Note how the actors play several different roles in the same bit.

They played at The Kimmel Center in the Perelman Theater. Whether it's a concert or other performance, I always like to be as up close as possible. So Steve and I got what The Kimmel Center calls "box" seats, which are actually where the balcony narrows down to one row up in front by the stage. We not only had a good view of the stage but also a good view of when they went out to engage with audience members.

While their USA tour has come to an end, you can still keep up with Foil Arms and Hog on Facebook. Here is the click to their Facebook page: Foil Arms and Hog on Facebook (CLICK HERE).

Mar 22 : "I Forgot to Live And Love Today" - Tom Shaner (New York)

PANDEMIC FRUSTRATIONS

Probably everyone can relate to this. In the middle of the pandemic, you want to get out, see other people, have life back to normal, but you just can't. If not a connection to people then a connection to just some activity, just something. It's a feeling of frustration that you haven't really lived life the way it should be lived.

That's the theme of New York musician Tom Shaner's new video, "I Forgot to Live And Love Today". The song was actually written during the height of the pandemic, but the video was released just last Monday, March 14.

I asked Tom to give us some background about the song. Hi Bob- thanks for reaching out. I had a general inspiration for simple melodic idea while in Ireland Summer of 2019 I sort of forgot about it, as I’m often bouncing around many different ideas in my head. Then a few months into the pandemic I was playing guitar one day and the melody reappeared and (it had no words before) those words start sort of tumbling out. “I Forgot to Live and Live Today.” And I thought it was a bit corny. But it seemed like that’s what it wanted to be, those words. So I figured out where to go from there. I guess it dawned on me during pandemic that you’ve got to feel some sense of love everyday to have a chance of any organic connection to happiness. It doesn’t have to be a person. It could be you love novels or baking, or whatever.

And the chorus about the “blue margarita girls” refers to a memory I had of when I used to be a bartender years ago, we offered blueberry margaritas. And these two gals would come in often and that’s what they liked. And I was feeling down about a break up, and they would try and get me to go drinking with them.

In the years before the pandemic, I did get to see Tom do a show with his full band at Spike Hill. But here he's singing solo "I Forgot to Live And Love Today" :::

TOMORROW NITE!

Tom has been doing a residency in March at LIC Bar, and is excited about his show there tomorrow night! It’s just two more Wednesdays. It’s been fun. I’ve tried several new songs out snd have written new ones this month to try as well. I’ve mixed it up playing with different musicians such as my pal Felix Slim. Tomorrow night an old collaborator and friend Bob Sharkey will sit in. It’s been a fun ride to try and new stuff and play some older stuff in new ways. Then in on Sunday April 10th there’s a show at Mercury Lounge. Here is the click to LIC Bar (CLICK HERE) and this is Tom's click Tom Shaner on Facebook (CLICK HERE).