Mandatory Blackout: The Things That We Do To Amuse Us When The Power Is Out

A quick look on the Weather Channel recently had flash flooding and heavy storms all throughout the southeast United States, causing extensive damage everywhere in its path. Everywhere that is, except for Florida. Actually to be more specific, here in the Tampa Bay area. After several months without rain, our increasing demand for water has left us with empty water reservoirs, near drought like conditions and even tougher water restrictions. Unless you have reclaimed water, or don't mind paying excessive fines, then gone are the days of excessive lawn watering and Saturday morning carwashes. They have since been replaced by dead brown lawns and increasingly dirty vehicles.

Imagine my surprise when tonight, when my hometown was pelted with the most torrential of all rainstorms. Mother Nature up and just showed her bad 'ol ass, and brought a storm not seen since Noah brought his Ark through the village a long, long time ago. Now, months of angry rainwater came upon our city, and I was seriously worried about the safety of our new house. It didn't take but a few quick minutes of the downpour before there was that old familiar flicker of the lights and the sound of all the household electronics shutting down at once.

Damn, no power.

By stroke of good luck, Megan had just completed making dinner just before the power went out. But, when the power was still off after a half an hour, the reality of the situation started to settle in. It was getting dark outside and with the sun quickly fading, where were those candles stored at anyway? After a quick assessment of the house, it didn't take me long to realize that we are not prepared for such outages. With the upcoming hurricane season quickly coming upon us, I made the mental note that I need to go gather those things, like...Tomorrow

After four hours, the boredom took over. We tried to think of all of the fun things that we could do while the lights were out. Hey, aside from the obvious...thats how babies are born. Heres what we did...


First was to break a glass in a dark kitchen, then have no flashlight to see where you are going, all while searching for the invisible sharp remnants of the broken dish. Extra points if you are barefoot.

Take periodic trips outside, looking for the neighbors that still have their electricity on. Then raise your fist to them and shout profanities in their general direction, screaming about how revenge will be yours at the next moons light.

Maybe you had better not do that last one.

In a true bonding moment with my youngest daughter, we played guitar and sang songs...about taking a bath. Sung to the tune of some awfully bad Cheetah Girls song. Everyday should be like pre-school.

Here are a few things that we thought of, but didn't do...well, because it was bedtime, and it is a workday after all.

Play hide and seek

Drink

Set off fireworks

Wash the car (hey, its raining, and the restrictions are still on.)

Strip Poker by candle light - because everyone looks better when the lights are dim.

Have a séance: light as a feather, stiff as a … oh wait, is that a board?

Talk about the shows that we are missing on TV and how we can watch them on the computer instead anyway.

Friday Night Is Here

It is going to be a busy weekend coming up music wise.

Friday night,The  Dive Bar Stalkers are back in St. Petersburg to play at The Ringside on 4th Street. It is a quint but rockin' spot located in the historic Old NorthEast section of town and boasts that they are the "home of the blues." The last time that we played there, there was a small bit of chaos that closed the night. It seemed that there was a jealous person who was in attendance who threw a mug at one of the club's glass beer coolers. Needless to say it was shattered.

Hopefully that guy does not show up again this time.

Also on the bill for this show will be the band Kashmire.

There's been a lot going on in The Dive Bar Stalkers camp. I spent Tuesday evening in the studio recording tracks for the new CD. I recorded the rhythm guitar tracks for Seven Nights To Rock and Friday Night Is Here. So far, it has been pretty seamless and effortless. We've been playing a lot of the songs live for some time now, so basically, it was just a matter of getting them on tape.

Saturday night marks the triumphant return of PIG PEN to The Pegasus Lounge in Tampa. Ahhh, its good to be home again. We have been playing The Peg for years. We always have a great time and we usually invite a couple other cool bands to come along. This time is no exception. The Scurvy and Hatchetface are locals. To Be Hated is from Ft. Lauderdale and BearLake hails from Orlando.

This time around will also mark the debut of what must be our 15th or 16th drummer in the history of the band. Don't get me wrong, it's not like we're Spinal Tap or anything. Frankie Drunk was in the band for several years and so was Monkeyboy. It just seems that it has been a revolving door for awhile now. With me being the only original member, you can imagine I have seen my share of band mates come and go. Hell, the Weekly Planet even wrote a story about it. Now, it seems like we may have finally found someone who is fit for the part. Reggie The Josh. If you make it to the show, buy him a beer.

Who knows when there will be new PIG PEN music. It is definitely being talked about. I guess that we will just have to see what the new year brings us.