PJ TOURS!

Go figure that the year that Arun is leaving this is happening. Its so fitting. We're only living - a day we'll soon forget.

After waiting for years on end - it comes to pass that Pearl Jam will tour the Eastern Seaboard (and Canada)... but who cares about Canada. As the wiley Robin Williams put it "Canada is like a loft apartment above a great party". Kinda like what Srilanka is to India I suppose... except that Lanka is below India (the toilet?... ooh! the drain-pipe under the toilet).

Anyway - back to Pearl Jam. So Vedder and his crew will be hitting Hartford, CT and New York in May and June respectively. If Arun were going to be around - no doubt we would've gone for both concerts AND probably the one in Albany too. Being that he is leaving forever - I will settle for Mohla.

Now don't get me wrong - Mohla is a PJ fan like any other - a great one - with vast Rock knowledge. In fact, probably more rock "general" knowledge than myself. But AD and my association to PJ is different. We're not the - "we kiss the ground you walk on vedder" type fans - no... We have a deep and very personal appreciation for Vedder's lyrical style, content and remarkable sound. This band comes from a time when lyrics meant something. They were a form of prose, fluid poetry -that spoke of something important - that spoke and breathed air into our very lungs. They spoke of more than just pimping girls and shooting up the neighborhood - or...(sigh)... fighting with cheerleaders (the ever so popular Gwen Estefani song "Holla Back Girl"). It is unfortunate that current music is termed "pop music" and as a genre -people have begun to back-date this terminology. Suddenly, someone referred to Pearl Jam as a "Pop Band" from the 90's. I wanted to smack his face into a new arrangement so his ears would bleed snot.

Allow me to provide examples of lines/verses that have carved out my very soul:

1. "And then my bitter hands, cradled broken glass - of what was everything" - Song: Black
2. "Jeremy spoke in... class today" - Song: Jeremy
3. "Ohhhh I... ooooOO I'm still Alive" - Song: Alive
4. "I'll wait up... in the dark... for you to speak to me" - Song: Release
5. "Counts his money every morning, the only thing that keeps him horny" - Song: Soon Forget
6. "I will hold the candle, till it burns up my arm - oh I'll keep taking punches, until their will grows tired" - Song: Indifference.
7. "I'm trading stories with the leaves" - Song: In my Tree
8. "She dreams in color she dreams in red. Can't find a better man" - Song: Betterman
9. "I'd rather be... I'd rather be... I'd rather be with an... a-n-i-m-a-l." - Song: Animal
10. "I don't wanna take what you can't give. I would rather starve than eat your bread." - Song: Corduroy

... and I've missed so many.

The emancipation of 2006 will be determined by my attending this event. I can't wait. I'm sure Mohla can't either. I will send Arun pictures.