I've been thinking a lot about the 96 people who died in the West Warwick nightclub. I've been thinking about the blame game, the finger pointing... the almost immediate reaction by Great White's lead "singer" Jack Russell where he stated they had the club's permission to shoot off pyro in a 8 foot high little cubby of a stage. The posturing, the shoulder shrugging, the childish behavior. All those people died and lawyers will make some money and maybe someone gets fined or goes to jail.
In my honest opinion, I bet the club owners had NO idea these guys were going to use flashpots and sparklers. I bet the stage manager didn't do a walk through on the stage immediately after the band set up to look for anomalies in the stage layout. The rider made absolutely no mention of the use of fireworks, but show after show on this tour this band set them off. Sometimes the club owners or stage managers freaked out (Russells in Bangor, ME, the Stone Pony in NJ) and other times they just kinda shrugged their shoulders and said "Oh, that was unexpected but hey. Nothing bad happened."
I've also been thinking a lot about fire codes. The Station, the nightclub that burned down, was built prior to 1975 so it was "grandfathered" in to the fire codes that require all clubs to have sprinkler systems.
This makes no sense to me. Clubs built back in the day are mostly wooden shacks. But because they are old, they're exempt. Shouldn't it be the other way around? Old clubs are NON exempt because they are tinderboxes and little fire traps? I saw the owner of a prominent Boston music spot (The Middle East) in an interview last night. He was happy to show off the fact that even though the building he occupies is very old and he was exempt from the fire sprinkler requirement, he had them installed. He stated that in his opinion the exemption is foolish and it falls on the club owner to make the right decision for the safety of everyone AND the future of his business to go ahead and install them, whether or not they are legally required.
Sounded like a big no-duh to me.
But how often do any of us step forward and do something when we are not required to do so? Going the extra mile to ensure the safety of our kids in the car used to be a parent's decision... now it's a law. Kids are required to wear safety belts, "click it or ticket" is the slogan applied to such a law. But I still see parents driving around holding infants and toddlers in their laps. I still see kids standing up in the back of station wagons.
Legislation makes no difference to some people. Passing yet another law to have clubs install fire sprinklers or add more escape routes won't make a difference. Passing laws isn't going to help.
The only thing that will help is individuals like Jeff and Michael Derderian (owners of the ill fated nightclub) stepping up to the plate and saying "You know what, I think we need to install fire sprinklers even though we aren't required." It calls for guys like Jack Russell to put the flashpots back in the truck after a personal inspection of a stage (hmmmmm, 9 feet high, 20 feet wide, foam insulated? I don't think we'll use the sparklers tonight.) It calls for bands to have riders that are written specifically to include such pyrotechnics, rather than how many bottles of beer and trays of finger sandwiches they demand.
I don't know. A lot of personal responsibility is being shirked in this situation. And it's just plain sad.
On that note... let's move on to cheerier topics, shall we?
For dinner last night Doug whipped up a wicked bitchin' awesome Corn Chowder. Hell yeah. My husband rocks.
Tess emailed me to let me know she bought her plane ticket and will be here in Massachusetts in July. So we'll be able to show her some fun. I figure between me, Amy and Taunia we'll keep her entertained. She's going from here to NYC, so I'm scoping out some places for her to stay in Manhattan that won't break her bank. Staying in the city you have three choices -- unbelievably fucking expensive; expensive as hell but worth it because it's relatively clean and safe; heroin flophouse.
At least, that's been my experience. If you have any recommendations for good hotellage in NYC, email Tess through her website and let her know where to reserve a space.
I finally got around to upgrading my copy of Dreamweaver from version 2 to version 4. I like it much better. It's far easier for me to use, and I can set up stylesheets if I want. Sweet. I can also do serverside includes, sweet. I am working on a new site for Prof. CM for a side business he's starting up, and hopefully it will generate some more work for me once he rolls it out. Extra Sweet.
Geoff was out playing in the yard on Friday and lost a boot. His tan workboots come untied pretty easily, and I guess when we were unloading the car he played and ran around, thus causing said boot to get stuck in the heavy wet snow. Doug and I looked for it for a while, to no avail.
It has done nothing but rain and rain for the last two days. I looked out the kitchen window today and saw the top of the boot sticking out of the snow. I went to get it, and Geoff held it up and dumped out two gallons of rainwater.
"Oh, no! It's all wet!"
Of course it is, silly. But. Someday it'll dry. I brought it in and set it by the baseboard heater. I think two days will be the time needed to dry that puppy out. Prettydurnwet.
Please pray for her if you're the praying sort, or at least send good mojo, for both her, her son, and her son's dad. (and pray for me, because I stole this cool picture of her off her site without permission!!!!!)
Here's her email:
Hello friends,
Just wanted to drop you all a note to tell you I'm having surgery Monday (hopefully) or maybe Tuesday. I have had my third spontaneous pneumothorax (lung collapse) since August, this last one right on the heels of its predecessor. The collapses are small (about 10%) but painful (and scary.) I was at Mass General for hours yesterday, and they said they could admit me until surgery or I could go home with medication. Obviously I came home to my own bed.
Gary is taking care of Gabriel. This surgery has a very good success rate (as in, I should never have one again, at least not in this same place) but, surgery is surgery, and it's in my chest, so.....for those who pray, I would appreciate your prayers. I'm not much up for phone calls but brief ones - I was on oxygen for hours yesterday and I think it messed with my voice, it's almost completely gone. Emails are very welcome so I don't feel so alone.
Please also say a prayer for Gabriel, who has been much away from me this past month through either snowstorms or this illness, and is having a hard time away from mommy. I don't know how long my hospital stay will be following surgery, but I'll let someone on this list know and they can pass it along.
I actually quit smoking last week because of this - although it's not smoking-related, it seemed a good time to quit, but...mostly because I've felt God impressing upon me the need to quit for good. For such a light smoker (5-6 smokes/day) you'd think it would be easy...but no! So prayers on that front are also welcome.
Thank you all for being my friends. I cherish every one of you.
Peace,
Leigh
So, for those of you who've ever tried to quit smoking, or HAVE quit smoking... send her mojo. For those of you hospitalized with scary shit happening... send her mojo. For those of you who just care about the greater family of friends in the blogsphere out there ... send her mojo. She can use it, and I thank you in advance. I'll keep you posted when she lets me know how things are going.
The verdict is in on the cellphone pick-up that my sister experienced recently. Everyone who wrote in thought it was kind of cute and clever. Here are some of the responses:
"That's not creepy at all, how can anyone think that's creepy? They're
probably just jealous. It's the perfect solution to asking someone for their phone number, which is pushy and rude and makes some folks nervous. My number is unpublished and unlisted, thanks very much. I don't wanna give it to some guy stranger. Not that anyone's asking. And it's so arrogant to say, "Can I give you my number?" At least, it sounds kind of arrogant to me. This way, the number's there, she can use it or delete it.""I think Bob's approach has a subtlety and suavity that's kinda nice, and different (although it's been a while since I've been in the game--maybe all the guys do this now. Back when I was single we only had email.). As you note, no high pressure tactics, no verbal prodding. So, she can take the gesture as a fine compliment and decide if she wants to pursue it. A good arrangement, I say."
"I think it was cute what he did. It was a low key, no pressure way of
him saying "call me". He didn't have to ask for her number or offer his
without a risk of rejection. Seems like he's quite interested but not all
up in her grill about it. Smooth move! Two Thumbs up!"
Mind you, all responders were female. I guess no guys read my journal, except my husband, and he was the one who thought it was creepy.
So the girls say it's cool... if a guy is reading this, go ahead and use that tactic next time you're trying to pick up a lady (a babe, a ho, a skank) and see if it works.
It actually reminded me of the Simpson's episode where Marge's old flame Artie Ziff asks if they can be friends with privledges, and he scoots over to her and makes yummy noises while mock-licking his way up her arm, fingers wiggling in juicy anticipation. She says no, and says "Does that even work on anyone?"
The cell phone thing might work -- Artie Ziff's yummy licking noises do not.
Aaron is coming home very late on Tuesday night. Here's raising a toast welcoming him back -- and Michelle, I hope you got that bathroom painted! It'll be nice to have him back. We got a post card from him at McMurdo, and I must say I'm super psyched to have gotten one -- that's some pretty far away shit!
His flight gets him to LA on Tuesday afternoon, all the way from New Zealand, and then he comes to Maine. No long layovers, no great big stops. I'll bet he'll be a mess for a few days, but hopefully in this month upcoming we can get to see him and once again rock the casbah!
When A&M lived a few towns away from us we didn't see them nearly as often, or even talk to them as much. Funny how the distance between us has forged a closeness. I miss talking to my buddy there, and will be psyched to joke and jape on the phone with him and in person once more. Hurrah!
I feel better now than I did when I started this entry. Thinking of good friends like Tess, Leigh, Aaron and Michelle brings me to a good place (Happy Gilmore's "Happy Place" comes to mind, but without the girl in lingerie... the beer and the winning slot machine, yes... oh, and the little person on the tricycle... yeah... that's good stuff)
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