Thought For The Day

It's a bird! It's a plane. It's Father's Day!

For Father’s Day, Presley gave me a right spiffy gift: a trip to the indoor skydiving place.

What’s that? Well, that was kinda what I was wondering, too. You head to this place outside Fayetteville called Paraclete where they got this big fat monster wind tunnel and you get in there and hang in the air and zip around and stuff like you see skydivers do as they drop like stones.

As they describe it on their website, “you will soar on a column of air inside a vertical wind tunnel.”

And that’s what I did. Suited up in a jumpsuit and helmet, with some goggles that thankfully let me keep my glasses on, I got in there and flew around a little bit, with an instructor keeping me from blowing around like a wadded up piece of trash on a blustery day. It was a blast. And I was less lousy at it than I figured I’d be.

It was for sure a Father’s Day I won’t forget. And I’m ready to go back and try it again.

Jennifer took some pictures with her phone, but they aren't much to look at. So, I boosted this shot off their website. My aerobatics were nothing like those you see here.

"Must Not Think Bad Thoughts"

Been pretty down on my fellow man lately, thanks to an almost constant onslaught of rudeness from just about everybody I come into contact with. On the way to work, at the grocery store, walking around the flea market -- you name it, I've found creeps there. And my wife, Jennifer, has been complaining about the same thing. What the hell's wrong with people? And is it that damn hard to be civil?

So what did I do to fix all this, to restore my faith in the human race? Took my seven-year-old daughter to see X.

X is one of my favorite bands. Maybe they are my favorite band. If there was such a thing as a Rockometer -- a way to scientifically measure whether you prefer The Beatles to The Stones or Sgt. Pepper to Pet Sounds or Punk to Grunge or mono to stereo -- then I guess X could duke it out with The Kinks for my High Score. I discovered them in college and quickly pegged UNDER THE BIG BLACK SUN as one of the greatest albums of all time. But I was a latecomer -- the mighty Billy Zoom was gone by the time I found 'em.

Flash forward to 1998, and Billy Zoom is back for reunion shows. I'm married, sporting a hairdo clearly inspired by Zoom's, and my best friend James (after running the whole scenario past my co-conspiring wife) flies us out to LA to see X at The House Of Blues on the fabulous Sunset Strip. One of the greatest days of my life, easy.

Ten more years pass. I've got a seven-year-old daughter named Presley, the same Billy Zoom hair and thankfully the same wife and best friend. X comes to The Cat's Cradle in Carrboro last Tuesday, and James comes down from Brooklyn to take it in with Presley and I.

They played a little under an hour and a half. Stuff from the first four records, all played really hard. (They did "The Have Nots"!) And throughout, they seemed to be enjoying it. It mattered. Can't say that about many reunion tours, can you?

One of the greatest days of my life, easy. Not just because I got to see X play perhaps the best live show I've ever seen. Not because my daughter was there having a good time and sitting on the stage — perched in front of Billy Zoom and looking splendid in her “White Girl” t-shirt. Not because James came down — and I see him all too infrequently. Not because I met his friend Lauren, who took the above photos. Not because I also ran into my buddy Dick Vincent there. But because people were so NICE, from the ticket guy to the fans to Billy Zoom. And even though I felt a little conspicuous going in with a little kid, by the end of the show, people were coming up and saying they wished they'd brought their children.

It was a perfect father-daughter evening. And one of these days, Presley'll be able to tell her friends that her dad and his kooky friends took her to see X. And they'll probably say "Who?"

I feel sorry for them already.