Musings on the Most Ridiculous Band I Can't Stop Listening To

Tag: mickey hart (Page 48 of 71)

My Best Friend, My Drummer

billy mickey drumz 81

“Billy?”

“Yeah, Mick?”

“Whatcha thinking about?”

“Drumming.”

“Me, too.”

…

“Mick?”

“Yeah, Billy?”

“I was really thinking about pussy.”

“Me, too.”

…

“Billy?”

“Yeah, Mick?”

“When I said I wasn’t thinking about drumming, and that I was thinking about pussy? I was lying. I was totally thinking about drumming. I just said that to sound cool.”

“I know, man.”

 

Six Part Harmony

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From left to right, as is the custom:

  • Billy is modelling the latest from the newest name in shirts to get drunk in the afternoon in, St. Pete’s. Apprenticing under legendary clothiers to the grizzled Sammy Miami and Tampa Ray, St. Pete promises the highest quality in shirts that tell the world  “I don’t have fucks to give, but I almost surely have a knife.” Going to the races? Moving at midnight? Sitting in a folding chair in a public place randomly? St. Pete’s has what you need.
  • Garcia’s pooping. Everyone who’s spent more than ten minutes with a baby knows this face: Garcia is making a boom-boom.
  • “Hiiiii, Bobby.”
  • Mickey’s arms look like he’s in a horror movie and this is the part where he reveals he’s actually a Pod Monster From Uranus by swiveling them around and then a giant spider eats its way out of his skull. Mickey is not, however, wearing a Grateful Dead shirt. Which is suspicious.
  • “Christ, the bullshit I gotta deal with. Fuckin’ keyboardist telling me ‘I sing the high harmonies now, so it’s my turn to have you.’ Whatever the fuck that means. Is he still staring? Don’t look, Bob. Don’t–fuck, he is definitely still staring. Well, Bob: you wanted to half-ass the solo albums, so now you’re stuck with these mutants. Oh, good, guess who shit himself?”
  • Once again, Phil tried to teach the band the pleasures of a good old-fashioned barbershop quartet session, and once again no one wanted to play except Brent, whose voice was just about the opposite of barbershop quartet, plus Billy insisted on “helping,” and damn near every barbershop quartet song is hideously racist.

Sit-In, Sit Down

Autosave-File vom d-lab2/3 der AgfaPhoto GmbH

The intractable nature of the scheduling conflict became evident the first time someone hits a three-pointer and the ball bounces off Billy’s head, so–of course–he rifles the basketball into the crowd and it bounces off head after head like Captain America’s shield, breaking nose after nose.

Also: hey, Mickey. Taking a breather, pal? Call yourself a time-out for a smoke and a beej? Get back to work screwing around with your tom-toms and being petulant.

 

Overheard At The State Fair

  • Mickey stole the hammer from the Test of Strength game and is chasing families up and down the Midway.
  • Well, who told you to drop acid? You knew there were gonna be clowns here. It’s a high-probability clown zone, man. I put that in the morning newsletter.
  • No, Bobby: you won the giant teddy bear, so you have to carry it.
  • Keith and Mrs. Donna Jean were on the bumper cars and they started ramming into one another and Keith spun out and somehow drove through a Farmer’s Market.
  • It’s a game, John Perry Barlow. You shoot the water gun into the clown’s mouth, balloon blows up, first to pop wins. Why would you pull out your revolver?
  • “You saw everybody else shooting?” John Perry Barlow, go sit in the van until I come get you.
  • Billy was kicked by a horse? Really?
  • Oh, Billy kicked a horse. Much more likely.
  • I don’t think we can jam with them. They’re being dicks. Aso, they’re animatronic bears, but it doesn’t excuse the bad vibes.
  • Bobby, what do you mean your giant teddy bear disappeared? It didn’t get up and walk away.
  • Oh, it did? That means Brent is now wearing it and looking for–well, “victims” is probably the most precise word, but he’s a friend…
  • You dosed the carnies? I dosed the carnies. Wow, how many…shit, this is actually no joke. Carnies are only human in a legal sense. We should get in the van and go before this place turns into blood salad.
  • No, I don’t specifically know what “blood salad” means, but you wouldn’t order it, wouldja? I wouldn’t even go to a joint that served blood salad.
  • The guy who guesses people’s weight just guessed Garcia’s weight and Parish broke his nose.

And a TotD bonus: Things Bobby Ate At The Fair!

Hot dog, corn dog, cheese dog, lost dog, Nate Dogg, cotton candy, wool candy, lifesaver he found in pocket of jean shorts, astronaut ice cream, cosmonaut borscht, giant turkey leg, deep-fried candy bar, deep-fried hamburger, deep-fried deep fryer (they dip the whole thing in,) fried dough, fried ray, fried me, Italian ice, French fries, Swedish Surprise (the surprise is that it’s Finnish,) every variety of chimichanga (there are only two varieties,) unidentified pills given to him by fans, Cheeto pie, Frito pie, Jared Leto pie, a whole watermelon at once by unhinging his jaw and swallowing the thing, Phil’s dust (there was a footrace at one point.)

The Things Weir Carried

In recent interviews, Bobby has mentioned being Garcia’s bagman–holding the Persian and giving him just the daily dose. As usual, Bobby and the rest of Big Dead are telling only a small portion of the truth: Bobby carried many things, for many people, for many different reasons.

  • Garcia’s wallet.
  • Garcia’s car keys.
  • Garcia’s trousers. (One time in Michigan.)
  • The blueprints to Front Street detailing the building’s security weaknesses. (Stolen by Bothan spies, many of whom were killed by Billy and/or the road crew.)
  • A hardcover copy of Finnegan’s Wake for Phil, who swears that he’ll actually read it this tour.
  • Mickey’s hockey bag full of raccoons. He always needed it in the middle of the night, plus: they’re raccoons. They can get out of a hockey bag in seconds and then they coordinate their attacks. They would invariably break out and head straight for Garcia’s room (Garcia and Bobby always had adjoining rooms in case they wanted to gossip) while Garcia nodded off on a smoldering bed, steal the remnants of his chicken parm sub, put out the fire (raccoons are nature’s first responders,) and scurry into the night.
  • And then Mickey would burst into the room and be all, “Garcia, what did you do with my raccoons?” as if he were somehow complicit in this, like he planned it, and it wasn’t entirely Mickey’s fault for stuffing a hockey bag full of raccoons and leaving it in a hotel room. Everything that happens as a result of that is on you, Mickey.
  • The key to Brent’s chastity belt, which he wanted Bobby to unlock “only when I been good, ‘kay, Bobby? Judge me harshly and dole out your sweet rewards and your just punishment.” Bobby took the key, backed out the room slowly, lost the key, called a locksmith, went to the hospital.
  • Billy’s briefcase containing $10,000 in Kruegerands, a forged passport, and a fake mustache. (“They’ll be looking for a guy with my mustache, but I’ll have this mustache!”) Billy called it “the football” and tried handcuffing it to Bobby a number of times, but Bobby’s quick and could easily dodge the attempts.
  • Everybody’s gum. (Bobby was actually an awful bagman w/r/t gum. Bobby’ll chew your gum right up.)
  • Two or three extra livers for Phil, plus an extra kidney for Mickey, who was both in perfect health, and hesitant to explain his need for the organ.
  • Phil made Bobby hold Ned Lagin for him one tour, but Bobby put his foot down after three or four shows. “There are some things I simply won’t cross state lines with,” and then Phil corrected Bobby’s grammar and then Bobby accused Phil of being a Prescriptivist and then Billy, who had been eating ribs and not bothering anyone, called both of them Bolsheviks, and everyone was yelling at everybody, and once again: Ned Lagin ruins everything.

Double Playin' In The Band

phil sf gianst jersey'

Citing his age, lack of any athletic ability, and organ-recipient status, the Giants passed on allowing Phil to play shortstop. (It also did not help Phil’s case to keep referring to the team as “The San Franciscos.”

He was, though, installed as the third base coach for a week or so. “PHIL’S MANNING THE HOT CORNER!” he kept crowing as he ran towards first until the batboy chased him down and turned him the right way.

Phil quickly became a fan favorite for his philosophy: send ’em. Blooper to left with Pablo Sandoval on first? Send ’em.It was entertaining in the same way running a reverse on 4th and 23 is, or the Charge of the Light Brigade, or taking Billy to church: a glorious death.

Mickey came along one night and sat in the dugout with Phil; his favorite part was the chatter. Predictably, Mickey failed to recognize the boundaries of chatter, and hucked a nine-volt battery at the opposing pitcher.

Early And Often

phil bobby mickey billy go vote

Actually I do have some questions:

  • Why are Mickey and Billy stumping for coyotes?
  • Out of the four of them, who could most coherently explain what a hashtag is?
  • Does the logo for this Headcount organization need to be so violent? It seems that the guitar is being used as a weapon of convenience, perhaps to put a small varmint of its misery.
  • Is Bobby’s card smeared with feces? Because that’s how he’s holding it.
  • Mickey’s eyebrows are thicker than a William Vollman book.
  • Why do the “O”s in Phil’s sign contain robot assholes? That’s not just me, right? Those are techno-sphinctors.
  • Billy insisted on pronouncing it “gahVOHtay,” and claiming it was “a particularly nastified disease of the natures both sexual and Puerto Rican. I caught it in Mexico.”
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