Goodbyes

This morning I wrote my father's obituary.  I don't know why, but I wanted it here:

Norbert H. Voss, known as “Bob” to both his family and friends, passed away Sunday, April 25, 2010 in Florida at HealthPark Medical Center.  He was 59 years old.

Bob was born June 19, 1950 in West Germany and came to America in 1954, settling in River Vale, New Jersey.  In 1969 he started with IBM in the mailroom and worked his way up to Program Director, retiring to enjoy life at age 52 in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, where he could always see the ocean.

He is survived by his wife Anita, his mother Irmgard and sister Annette, as well as by his three children: Christopher, Karen, and Jason.  He is further survived by two grandchildren: Amelia and Jack, as well as a multitude of friends who loved him and all of whom he considered family.

A private memorial service was held on the beach Tuesday, where his life was remembered and celebrated, and where those who spoke echoed the hearts of all who knew him.  Funeral services will be private and at the convenience of the family.

Goodbye, Dad.  I would give anything to have back the time we didn't talk, and to know that in the end you knew that it never changed the fact that I loved you, and was fiercely proud to be your son.

Silence

Tomorrow morning I leave for Florida, to a hospital where my father lies surrounded by doctors who tell me today that first thing in the morning might not be fast enough to say goodbye.  I haven't spoken to my father in almost a year, and before then it was only a few times.

And now all those moments of silence are screaming at me louder than any fight I could have had that would let things pass.

Don't know when I'll be back.

The Hold Steady @ The Music Hall of Williamsburg

The first time I consciously recall The Hold Steady wasn't a result of listening to them, it was reading about them.  Zombie Underground was basically one guy writing about whatever he felt like in short, visceral bursts, and his "review" of Boys and Girls in America was not so much a review but the story of the dissolution of his marriage, and how the album helped him get by.  Five minutes after finishing the review I drove to the nearest store and picked it up.  In short order I devoured Boys and Girls... and bought follow-up Stay Positive and previous album Separation Sunday.  Craig Finn's lyrics and delivery managed a drunken, sincere poetry that was both instantly modern even as it reached back to the best songwriters from thirty years ago, and the music - a cross of E-Street Band and indie rock - redefined what constitutes a "bar band".

The Music Hall in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, is a cozy venue that's modeled in the same fashion as the Bowery Ballroom in New York.  Plenty of room downstairs to drink and lounge, and a stage that's not so far removed from the floor you feel a disconnection.  I was there courtesy of Indie Maven Sean, who has a habit of remembering everything you say about music, and graciously gave me first crack at his extra ticket to see The Hold Steady's second gig of the day (they had played only hours before in NYC).

The Oranges Band opened the show.  At this point I wasn't really taking pictures (the above is courtesy of Sean), just trying to get back into the groove of live music - it had been close to a year since I had seen a live show.  Sean told me after the set that this wasn't their best showing, both he and the band pointing out that they replaced their drummer just a few days ago and had a new bassist.  I hope so - the impression I got was just another indie rock band, which nothing to separate them from a crowd of hundreds of others that might be playing a small club somewhere.  Singer/Guitarist Roman Keubler had a decent presence on stage, but overall I wasn't clamoring to go out and check them out further.

Once The Hold Steady took the stage, things took off.  The opened with a track off their forthcoming album Heaven is Whenver, "The Sweet Part of the City" which feels like the logical extension of Stay Positive.  From there they jumped right into the classic stuff, ripping into "Constructive Summer" and "Hot Soft Light" and everything in between.

Lots of high points to the night, especially Finn's manic mugging to the audience, often repeating lyrics just sung away from the microphone with a shit-eating grin as if to say, "Can you believe this shit?  I know!"  The crowd did believe this shit, and we ate it up, laughing, clapping and singing along to every track.  And even though Stay Positive as a complete record ranks somewhat behind Boys and Girls in America and Separation Sunday for me, the actual song "Stay Positive" killed towards the end of the night.

It was close to 2:00 AM by the time they came out for the encore, playing "Citrus", a fantastic version of "First Night" and closing out with crowd favorite "Your Little Hoodrat Friend".  The energy from the show had my up until 4:00 AM.  There are some band that kill it live and suffer on tape, there are some bands that only work on tape.  And then there are The Hold Steady.

Civil War Sex Over @ Un:Bound

A couple of weeks ago Un:Bound hosted a small contest asking its readers to choose a book that the site wouldn't normally review, with the winner receiving a free book from Hagerat's trip to the World Horror Convention.  I upped the stakes a bit, stating that not only would I read and review the winner's selection for the site, but would do a short interview with the winner as well.

Well, when all was said and done the winning selection was Dr. Thomas P. Lowry's The Stories Soldiers Wouldn't Tell: Sex in the Civil War.  My review is up over at Un:Bound, and there's an excerpt below:

To the naysayers who said it couldn't be done...to the fearful who said it shouldn't be done...to the ones who know me and my legendary procrastination who proclaimed it wouldn't be done...

To all of you, I say "Fie!"  For I have not only read Jack C. Young's pick for the "Little Bit of Fun" contest, Dr. Thomas P. Lowry's The Stories Soldiers Wouldn't Tell: Sex in the Civil War, I am also about to review it!

Uh, right now!

The content of Stories Soliders Wouldn't Tell... would seem to be a no-brainer based on the title, but in fact it's a lot less salacious and controversial than the name implies.  It's simply a record of the sexual conduct during the Civil War.  Which in and of itself is fascinating: one of the key points Lowry makes in his (very roundabout and more than a little old fashioned way) is that it's indeed how conspicuous the absence of sex of any kind is missing from all the historical, biographical, and military accounts of one of if not the most impactful event in the modern history of the United States.

Check out the full review and subsequent interview with the winner over at Un:Bound.

You Know Who I Miss?

Joe Strummer: