Classic music: Mr. Bojangles

From Wikipedia:

Mr. Bojangles was a song written in 1971 by Jerry Jeff Walker. Despite popular belief, the song was not written about tap dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. It was written after Walker himself went to jail on a drunk and disorderly charge in New Orleans in 1965. Behind bars, he met a homeless white street performer who called himself "Mr. Bojangles" to conceal his true identity from the police. Several skid row members had been rounded up after a high profile murder had been committed on the streets of New Orleans.

The two men and others in the cell chatted about all manner of things, but when Mr. Bojangles told a story about his dog, the mood in the room turned heavy. Someone else in the cell asked for something to lighten the mood, and Mr. Bojangles obliged with a tap dance.

A chance encounter in a New Orleans jail cell leads to a masterpiece...

I met him in a cell in New Orleans,
I was down and out
He looked to be the eyes of age as spoke right out
He talked of life,
He talked of life,
He laughed, slapped his leg a step

He said his name, Bojangles,
Then he danced a lick across the cell
He grabbed pants of better stants,
Then he jumped up high, he clicked his heels
He let go a laugh,
He let go a laugh, shook back his clothes all around

He danced for those at minstrel shows
And county fairs throughout the south
He spoke with tears of 15 years
How his dog and he traveled about
His dog up and died, up and died,
After 20 years he still grieved

He said I dance now at ev'ry chance
In honky tonks for drinks and tips
But most of the time
I spend behind these county bars
He said 'I drinks a bit'
He shook his head...


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Grisanti-gate

If you're like me, this whole Mark Grisanti casino scuffle does not pass the smell test. As soon as I saw he and his wife making the media rounds to announce that they got beat up, the first thought that came to my mind was "preemptive strike".

From the way they've been talking, my hunch is that Grisanti is trying to cover something up regarding the incident. Just like Frank "Frankie Five Angels" Pentangeli in the Godfather II, I suspect the young State Senator "had too much wine."

If a Seneca businessman is to believed, we can also add Grisanti to the "Don't you know who I am?" fraternity.

"I was maybe 15 feet away. I heard it," John said. "[Grisanti] yelled, 'Don't you know who the [expletive] I am, you [expletive]?"

Grisanti, R-Buffalo, told The News he was very upset during the incident but doesn't recall making any racial statements of any kind.

"Doesn't recall." Red flag. Whenever someone says they don't "recall" something, it is usually to shield themselves from trouble. Another person at the bar that night also disputes Grisanti's version of events...

"The senator seemed to think that it was his business to jump in between the two of them," Snow said. "[Grisanti] kept asking Eric White, 'Do you know who I am? Do you know who I am?'"

We know who you are, Mark. You're a small time Charlie. People didn't vote for you, as much as they voted against Antoine Thompson. Get over yourself, Hollywood.

Here's what I think happened: Mark Grisanti and the Indians were both drunk. The Indians drank too much firewater and were going to fight each other over politics or money. For some reason, Grisanti got involved. He ticked off one of the Senecas and then decided to fight with the security guards (who were just trying to do their jobs.)

The whole Kenmore Mercy Hospital field trip and local media tour were nothing more than political damage control. He wanted to accuse the other side before they went to the media and accused him of being a babbling drunk. Who goes to the hospital after a minor scuffle? Come on dude! How are we supposed to believe a word he says after he flip flopped on the whole gay marriage issue anyway? He's a marked man by area Conservatives. If I were Grisanti, I'd stay out of casino bars and stay away from Indians and try telling the truth once in awhile...

Police say fight might not merit charges

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Can't a man relax?

A 28 year old man was arrested in the town of Java for driving drunk while wearing a Halloween mask. What else are people supposed to do in Java?

JAVA, N.Y. (WIVB) - Sheriff's deputies responded to the town of Java in Wyoming County Tuesday afternoon after receiving reports about a man driving around the town in a Halloween mask.

Authorities pulled over 28-year-old Justin Middagh of Hamburg around 2:30 p.m. on Route 78. After investigating, deputies placed him under arrest for DWI. Middagh allegedly struggled with officers, and it was later discovered he had a previous DWI arrest in 2003.

Man driving in a mask arrested for DWI | WIVB.com

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It's 5 o'clock somewhere

Had I been Victoria Hong, I would have been unable to report this story without laughing. Call the police! Our bus driver is hammered!"The wheels on the bus go round and round"...

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Adventures in Babysitting

Don't tell mom the babysitter's drunk...

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You don't see this every day...

Getaway foiled when horse and buggy crash

An Amish boy who tried to flee police faces charges of alcohol possession and "overdriving an animal" after he crashed his getaway vehicle -- a horse and buggy.

Cattaraugus County sheriff's deputies today said 17-year-old Levi E. Detweiler ran a stop sign and refused officers' attempts to stop the buggy. Deputies chased Detweiler for about three quarters of a mile, and when he tried an unsafe turn into a driveway, he crashed the horse and buggy in a ditch. The boy then fled on foot but was found later in the area.
He was interviewed by detectives, who charged him with possession of alcohol by someone under 21, overdriving an animal, second-degree reckless endangerment, failure to stop at a stop sign and failure to yield to an emergency vehicle in the incident that occurred about 1:30 a.m. July 12.

That "overdriving an animal"charge will get you every time. I hate when that happens. They should let him go just because his name is Levi. I wonder if he'll share a court date with the Lancaster guy caught driving drunk on his lawn mower?...
Getaway foiled when horse and buggy crash : Latest Local News : The Buffalo News

You think you had a tough weekend?

Some guy in Eugene, Oregon got drunk, fell into a canal, and crawled 2 miles through a storm drain. A woman doing some backyard gardening heard him screaming for help and called authorities. The man was pulled from the sewer in time to make it back into the bar for Saturday night Karaoke.

Man trapped in underground storm drain KATU.com - Breaking News, Sports, Traffic and Weather - Portland, Oregon News

Misery loves company

I guess drinking does impair your judgement. This happens so often now, it doesn't even qualify as being strange anymore. West Seneca woman pulls up to scene where her husband is undergoing DWI test. Guess what? She's wasted too! Reservations for two please...

From WGRZ.com

WEST SENECA,N.Y. - State Police say a West Seneca woman pulled up on the scene as her husband was undergoing a field sobriety test for DWI and ended up getting charged with the same offense.

It all took place on Winspear Road in the town just after 12:30 am Friday. Troopers pulled over Joseph Nagowski, 50, for failure to keep right. As Nagowski was being tested his wife Chrisanne, 48, pulled up in another

car and asked if everything was ok. Troopers also placed her under arrest after they determined she had been drinking. The couple was taken to the Elma barracks were both submitted to a breath test and were found to be over the legal limit.

Next Time Call a Cab

From today's Buffalo News: They say misery loves company. A guy from Depew was charged with DWI. He decided to call his friend, one of my drunken neighbors from Koester St., to pick him up at the State Police barracks. Bad idea. He was also charged with DWI when he showed up drunk to pick up the first guy. The first guy should have just told the police his last name was Keane, Kane, Comerford, Lotempio, etc. Not only would police have let him go without any charges. They probably would have given him an escort home and named their first born sons after him.

Man called by DWI suspect for a ride charged with DWI

A Buffalo man called to pick up a drunken Depew man at the State Police barracks Wednesday evening was arrested by troopers after driving to the barracks drunk, police said.

The initial DWI charge was lodged against Ronald R. Taylor, 39, of Transit Road, who was spotted talking on his cell phone on the Thruway at about 7:20 p. m. When Taylor’s ride home, Terry L. Branka, 40, of Koester Street, arrived to pick him up, he also was charged with DWI, police said.

Another man, a Lancaster resident, arrived later to take both men home. He was not drunk, police said.