Inactivity

Things have been slow here at The Wormstead lately.



You may remember my vacation post,where I was injured in a freak fall while camping in the Berkshires, that resulted in breaking and dislocating my 2nd toe on my left foot. It was supposed to be a fun week with me and The Wife and members of The Numbskulls and Musclecah, getting out of Wormtown and into the deep woods of western Mass. for a little fun and relaxation.



That ended my vacation and began my up close and personnel with the Health Care System that has been the subject of many heated town hall meetings this past month.
After returning to Wormtown I was advised by my doctor to let the injury settle for two days and then see where it was at.
Where it was at turned out to be infection-land and off the St. Vincents for a five day stay that consisted of surgery, pain killers, needles poked into my body several times a day, that wonderful food they serve, and of course being awakened in the middle of the night to see how I was doing. But what a view of Downtown I had, as the workers make the road over for some strange reason. People using that crosswalk were taking a chance with that unfinished medium in their way. The cars don't know where they should stop since they moved the end up about 20 feet.







After that, I was released home where I must daily dose myself up with antibiotics for the next 6 to 8 weeks. I am limited in my movements due the big plastic boot I have to wear to prevent any contact with anything that might do further damage. So here I sit, in a recliner watching mindless daytime tv and surfin' the Interweb.
The care I got from my doctor, the hospital, and all the nurses employed there was first rate. If people say health care is broken and needs fixing, they should visit a hospital soon.
Everything seems ok to me.
But then, I have insurance.

Wormtown Weekend

Start the weekend early!
Thursday at The Lucky Dog The Pathetics, Critical Condition, Public Uproar, and The Flock Of Assholes are sure to show you what Wormtown Rock is all about. Best line up I've seen in quite some time. And if you go to The Flocks Myspace page, they have a coupon you can print out for free admission!!
Friday, the action continues at The Lucky Dog with Jason James, Sawmill, Cobra-Matics, and Girl Haggard, a new band from Providence you should see that play "Country and Eastern" music.
Funny how the punk rock action has shifted this week to a club that usually features cover bands, and across town at Ralph's there's a cover band playing. The Chicken Slacks, who play soul and R&B covers, are onstage Friday night. I have tried unsuccessfully to check out "Funky Fridays" for 3 months now, but I hear it's a happening.
Over at Tammany Hall, Guns of Navarone, who I understand just won Best Ska Band in The Turtle Boy thing, are on the bill with three other bands whom I never heard of but maybe you have. See the flier.
So get out and rock! Good original music is hard to come by here nowadays, jump on it!

Wormtown Weekend

Muck and the Mires at Vincents Friday Night.
Go dance, drink and carry on.
That's all, now someone get me my meds!

A Great Getaway

The plan was 3 nights in The Berkshires with friends.
Otis MA, Tolland State Forrest. We drove out there on a hot summer day.
Set Up camp. Went Swimming. Had dinner. Lit a fire. Good Times.
The plan did not include tripping over a rock, breaking my toe, going to the emergency room in Great Barrington.
Then being told to cut my trip short and go home to see a specialist.
Surgery Tomorrow?
Stay tuned....

Wormtown Weekend

I didn't forget, just been sick all week with my second cold of the summer. Where's that god damn swine flu vaccine?
Any way, one show to talk about , Guns Of Navarone are at Beatnik's on Park Ave Saturday night. I have never been there. 433 Park Ave. Is that where Benders used to be? It doesn't matter. There will be much dancing to the skapunkrastafunk sounds all night I'm sure!
Looks like a nice, hot, tropical weekend for it.

The End Is Near

The final day of broadcast of WBCN 104.1 fm.
You need to tune in at some point today, as this is the end of an era.
I can't stress enough how important this station was to the whole Wormtown scene when it was founded.
The big local station wouldn't even touch the new sounds emerging at the time.
WBCN embraced it. You could hear The Ramones, The Clash, The Sex Pistols on the radio.
But, what made it fun was the DJ's. Oedipus, Charles Laquidara, and sadly left out of the 4 day farewell broadcast, Worcester's own Mark Parenteau, who started out as a high school student / DJ at WORC 1310. Sure, he had serious legal trouble in the recent past, but to leave out one of the key figures was wrong.
They will sign off at 12 midnight tonight for the last time.
The creek has risen..........

Bottlefight and Slitstich

From Ralph's last Friday.
Punk Rock in Wormtown.
We need more of this.

Wormtown Weekend

Now, this is more like it.
Punk Fuckin' Rock on a Friday night at Ralph's!
Jonee Earthquake Band, argh!, Slitstich, The Designer Drugs, Sadplant, and Bottlefight are sure to rip it up at The Diner tonight.
All summer long I have been complaining that there was no real rock n roll to be had here, now I can shut up and dance.




Saturday, WBCN 104.1 fm will begin a 4 day farewell broadcast at 10 am and run through the weekend into next week. I have no idea what they have planned, but you should tune in to the Rock of Boston for the last time ever. At one time, no one could touch this station for music and vibe. Since 1968 they became the standard that all radio stations went by, now after 40 plus years they'll cease to exist on air as of August 13th. They will be moving to an online and HD Radio (who's got one of those?) only.

The Woo

Is this really what people are now referring to this city as?
C'mon, you can't do any better than that?
I know, this coming from Me, the guy who came up with Wormtown 31 years ago.
At least Wormtown has some notoriety. A label for the punk rockers. An identity far removed from the status quo in Worcester.
Let's take a look at the use of this new (?) term.


There is the Woo Card, something college kids use to find out what is going on culturally.


The Woo Bus,a ride on the road to Nowhere.


The Woo Church, an alternative Christian Church in Main South.


The Big Woo, a sound drunk girls make in clubs when they are having fun.

And then there is this. I contacted Bill Kelly, The King of Real Rock n Roll Radio on WFMU in New Jersey. He was a college student at Holy Cross in the sixties, when the term was originated...

"We preppy Holy Cross snots regularly referred to Worcester as Wootown between 67 and 71. I can remember getting hammered and spinning around on my ear, ala Curly Howard, bleating "woo woo woo woo" to the delight of my fellow Worcester mocking friends. We were also amazed at how bad the weather was compared to other parts of Massachusetts. When it was drizzling, that was known as "Worcestering". I also recall a weekend in November when there was 18" of snow on the ground in Wootown and only a dusting in Foxboro. The one thing we all loved about Wootown? The Miss Worcester Diner. That's high praise coming from those of us who grew up sampling the myriad of fabulous diners here in the diner state of NJ. Thee most delicious veal parm sandwich I ever had. Period. Probably the most authentic diner ambiance too."

So there you have it. It's an old term , rehashed to be the most lame nick name this city ever had. After all, this isn't Wooster. That's in Ohio.

Die, Taxman, Die

Last fall, the voters of Massachusetts were given the chance to abolish the state income tax. How did that work out?



Well, the state heard you. The citizens of Massachusetts must love being taxed, so let's give them more!
Today the sales tax jumps from 5% to 6.25%. That means everything you buy costs more. And alcohol sales are being taxed for the first time ever. There was already an excise tax on booze, so now we are being taxed on a tax.

I guess many of people will be looking at this from now on.



Someone on a radio talk show suggested we should have lowered the tax to 3%, and then people from the border states would flock to Massachusetts to buy stuff. Now the opposite is true.
Welcome back, Taxachusetts.