What I Learned From Lenny Bruce....

...well at least the movie version of his life!

A: That Bob Fosse was truly an American treasure. And Dustin Hoffman is brilliant.
B. Definition of a "Schmuck" : Someone who gets out of the shower to pee.
C. That using "Blah Blah" in the place of expected naughty words was REALLY funny!

SIDETRACK: When I was singing in night clubs for a living, one band I was with, "Triffid", did a song by Paul McCartney called "Smile Away". In the middle of the song I would engage the audience and get'em to sing along with me. Well, one night I came up with this whole rap about farts. What it boiled down to was:

1. You came to the club to hopefully meet someone.
2. You'd been indulging in adult beverage of an effervescent nature.
3. Hopefully accompany that person to the local diner...this was New Jersey, after all.
4. And while finally being able to talk in a normal volume, you...the male...realized, right in the middle of the diner and booth.... you had to fart.

And I would go on to describe the varieties of flatulence one could count on.

It was a BIG fav of our fans.

However, one night we played a club owned by this really uptight ex high school football coach who took exception to that word....fart. Called our management the next day and said we would never play the club again, it I performed it once more that night.

So...instead I used..."blah"!

It was a hit with those who had heard the song before, and those new to us, got it anyway.

Worked for Lenny. Me...not so much. It was years before we played that club again.

But I digress....

4. How not to flame out in to an ember.

Lenny was arrested over and over for obscenity across the nation. In many ways he is responsible for the broader definition of The First Amendment we enjoy today. Just because he was vulgar, doesn't mean he didn't fall on the sword and allow things we like today, such as,  the free flow of information, opinion, and debate. Like on the internet.

In the last years of his life and career, Lenny took to reading the transcripts of his trials in comedy clubs, instead of doing comedy.

Crash
Burn
Embers!

My postings as of late have been, by and large, maudlin...depressing...a bit self indulgent with a dash of pity...

I used to come here, write stuff in an attempt try to be funny, observant, clever...etc.

No so for quite some time. And I need to change that. Not just for you, but myself as well.

Of course I'll post when something goes amiss, but certainly in a different fashion that I have been. No one likes a whiner, most of all your humble narrator.

So expect some announcements of projects I have been developing and progress in becoming a Texas for real.

Yeah, my lungs suck now. It is what it is. But I have other parts to my anatomy, and that includes my Heart. I need to spend more time talking to it. It still sees a nice future.

Here's hoping!

Until next time.....