The Age of Grub Hub

This used to be a quiet neighborhood, with lots of kids having fun, block parties. yards kept neat and clean, you know, pride. That notion has gone the way of covered wagons and Howard Johnson's restaurants. As folks have retired and moved away and other friends have left this mortal coil, they have been replaced by a new breed of neighbor, the ones that don't give a rat's shit about anything, especially the upkeep of their property. I am now surrounded by 3 houses, all rental properties which are run by no account slum lords. Roofs covered with moss, yards filled with weeds have become a stomping ground for all sorts of chipmunks, possums, and raccoons. I sit on my patio with a bottle of "Devils Cut" Jim Beam and a war surplus flame thrower and try my valiant best to keep them at bay. It's a losing battle. 

The purpose of this rant was I just noticed yet another Grub Hub delivery to my neighbor across the street. They get all their meals this way and it's hard to imagine who the hell is living there, it's either a pack of deranged meth heads or the last remaining visage of Marjorie Taylor-Greene's "America First" build the wall fan club. Either way, no one inside can be more than a portly pile of hardened arteries swimming in a sea of styrofoam take-out containers. I'll keep an eye out and let you know.

And They Called It Puppy Love

 Well, it had to happen eventually, sooner or later the Gods would intervene and I would be allowed to once again broadcast my show. Years ago I disappeared from the airwaves due to situations beyond my control. in the ensuing time my mentor, Joe, has worked feverishly to patch things together once again. Now, without further interruptions, Harmonica Joe's Back Porch is being re-launched at 7PM EST Sundays & Tuesdays. The format will be the same, that is, Blues sprinkled with a healthy dose of "Roots", "Country" (Alt, Bakersfield, Honkey Tonk), and classic Rock.

DreamStreamRadio.com is the place to tune in for this smorgasbord of good music and a cheesy, so-so radio host.

When I first heard the Blues it certainly was puppy love. I had acquired a harmonica earlier that summer from a dude I met during a road trip from Jersey up towards Montreal. He showed me a few tricks and presented me with a Hohner Marine Band, key of D. I didn't know much about the Blues except the tunes that came out of British rock bands, who revered the format. 

My puppy love blossomed into a full-blown lust festival. The first time I heard a Muddy Waters album and heard the amazing sound of Paul Butterfield on harmonica, well, there was no going back. You'll hear that love on my show twice a week. If you have a moment, tune in, I would certainly appreciate it!

Please note that currently, as of April 1, I am on a short sabbatical, mostly searching for edible cannabis and Devil's Cut Bourbon. You see I need these things in order to operate smoothly and in a coherent manner. Things are coming together soon. Check my shows' FaceBook page "Harmy's Back Porch", adios til then.

 Baseball and the Blues

After all, that's the name of the blog, ain't it? Well, there are bills as well. However, I'm loathed to speak of that subject, mostly because I see the creditors peeping through the blinds and furiously setting their Robo callers to my phone number.

When covid first reared its despicable face, I decided to retreat back to my childhood for just a bit. The '60s as a kid were a pretty safe time as I remember so why not drop back by for a spell? I was already ensconced in comic books, and have been for years. However, on a trip to my local shop, I spied something I had not seen in at least fifty-plus years. Packs of brand-spanking new baseball cards stared up at me through the glass counter. Something was very wrong though, where I had paid a nickel a pack all those years ago, the price now appeared to be four dollars a pack! Not only that, you got far fewer cards per pack and NO fucking gum. What the fuck?! I caved and bought a pack.

Another big difference between now and then is the sheer number of different cards and sets of cards. Not only in baseball but basketball and football AND hockey as well. There once was 1 set of cards for the season, stretching from early May to early September, probably 500 cards in all. That was it. If you didn't get the first few numbers in the series by early June, you were just plain out of luck.

I cannot believe how many different sets of baseball cards there are right now. Only 2 companies exist at this time, Topps and Panini. In the late '80s, there were at least 6 that I can remember. Those were the days when yuppies first realized you could turn a quick buck investing in old cards. After all, everyone's mom threw 'em out, so with that mindset, the card companies churned out millions of cards to meet the high demand. What resulted was the "Junk Wax" era. These days, complete sets of cards from this time frame are cheap as dirt, think "junk bonds" and the crash of '87 and you'll get the idea.

There is a boatload of guys like me out there who started collecting again due to the same reasons mentioned above. This has resulted in an all-out war between grown men all scrambling to retrieve cards to resell on eBay and other sites. Fast money means cruel tactics. Even the media has begun reporting after the Target chain discontinued sales due to a strong-arming incident at one of their stores where a gun was pulled and the entire area went into lockdown. When the going gets weird, the weird resort to violence. This can also be seen as a commentary on our society as the "Trump Populist" movement gathers steam and barrels through the heartland picking up all sorts of obese cowboys and Lynyrd Skynryd Confederate flag wavers. Myself, I politely step to one side and let the inevitable death juggernaut steam on by. card collecting reminds me of a great time in my life, a time when all that really mattered was what I was going to spend my$.25 allowance on. 

All you fucking angry midgets can stay out of the playground! 

To wit: 

and this is just a small sample of stuff thus far released in 2021