Monday, February 27, 2006

FINALLY OVER!

I spent yet another day at JURY DUTY. Luckily for me it was our last day as we finally heard closing arguments and began to deliberate the case. In a nutshell, the deliberations took all day, with yours truly being the last remaining holdout, up to the very last minute. There was a lot of stuff involved that I rather not get into at the moment, but I can say that it involved a lot of reflecting and soul-searching. It's one thing when you watch court cases unfold on TV and in the movies; however, it takes on a whole another aspect when you are sitting there with eleven other people, actually deciding the fate of another man's life. Crazy, mind-jarring shit. At the very least, I can say it's finally over and I can move on with my day-to-day life.

Sunday turned out to be an interesting day for a number of reasons. First off, we were experiencing some problems with our speaker system throughout the course of the week; the sounds of the speakers were as if they were shorting out. Then on Saturday night, something happened where we started to experience some electrical problems with the stereo system. Of course, when I come in on Sunday to set up for the day, I switch on the power and PHZZZATTTT! And just like that- the system blew. So now i'm sitting there with no music, no TV signals, nothing.

So now i'm facing the prospects of having no entertainment of any kind to get through the afternoon with. It's Sunday so it's a mellow day to begin with, but now, with no forms of entertainment to speak of, i'm thinkin' "Damn, i'm screwed..." So after consulting with THE DON on a plan of action, I began to play MR. TOOLTIME and started to re-route some plugs and wires and somehow, I got the TV's up and running. So at least we had something to watch. It was just as well as a few of the regulars showed up for some NASCAR action and some afternoon antics. Some of the regulars who made it in to see the SWANFATHER included NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, T-BILL, SUSHI SAMBA and his lovely squeeze PHILLY GIRL, CRIMSON CAMEL-TOE and AMERICAN PSYCHO. We spent the afternoon watching the race, swapping stories and making bets on crashes. The usual stuff.

I do have to say one thing: I have a new found respect for my girl CRIMSON CAMEL-TOE. During the course of our conversation, I got to learn a lot about her and she has a lot more to her than just good looks and an endless supply of colorful thongs. I'm pretty impressed with her and she's funny as hell.

Going back to the afternoon's activities, one of the highlights involved one of the bar's favorite patrons, MADAME X. She arrived with all of her personalities and began her usual ritual of entertaining herself, which is cool. But she somehow ended up getting involved in our NASCAR bets and was right in the thick of things up into the end of the race. After that, she went back to her cocoon and kept to herself. Bless her heart.

I'm hoping that the stereo system is up and running by tomorrow night's PHAT FAT TUESDAY bash. I trust that it will, although I am sure we will have a good turnout nevertheless. It could be worse. I just saw some news clips from NEW ORLEANS and their first Mardi Gras celebration since Hurricane Katrina. And it's rather sad; there's practically no one there. Bars on Bourbon Street are half-full, while the bars and restaurants on the side streets off of Bourbon Street are literally empty. What a shame. It's amazing that a storm that took place six months ago could still have such a devastating impact. Damn.

CELEBRITY SIGHTING of the DAY: Super-Hunk COLIN FARRELL was spotted enjoying a meal with friends a few minutes ago at the JACKSON HOLE Restaurant next door by a couple of my moles. Interesting guy from what I hear.

So that's it for tonite. Sorry for being away for so long; couldn't be helped. Catch everyone tomorrow night at the PHAT FAT TUESDAY BASH!

NUFF SAID