A place, a time, another goodbye.

Who's the fool with the cross-eyed stare
The turned up nose and moronic glare?
Who's that simpleton standing over there?
(jack jack the idiot dunce)....
Yeah he's so uncoordinated
Oh so disorientated
And when we have a high school hop
You ought to see that idiot bop

These words from the Kink’s song “Jack The Idiot Dunce” from the Schoolboys in Disgrace album would have (and did) describe not just me but my experience when I was a freshman in high school. When it came to functions like parties and dancing, long after high school ended, I never got past my self-consciousness; at least until about 10 years or so ago. What I learned, from going to nightclubs and small venue concerts, that nobody really paid any attention to me. Maybe it wasn’t that I had grown up, it was that they had.
Anyways, Saturday night one of my favorite nightclubs closed, and the last band that played there was 7th Heaven. Maybe now it’s time to grow up. Live music and dancing are more for younger souls perhaps. Luckily, or unfortunately, depending on which side of the coin the toss leaves exposed, I am not ready to be so old so soon. I have many years to make up for. I know that I have a few friends who have seen me dance, especially at one of my friend’s birthday party. That was caught on video and I gave out copies of it. For those lucky enough to see it, they can assuredly vouch for the fact that I dance like a gorilla, out of control on roller skates.
What I have learned in the many years since I outgrew some of my insecurities is that fun is in the doing, not in the watching. I used to watch others have fun, and wished I could do the same. Now I’m doing what is fun for me, and I notice that others are watching me.
Although I think mostly because their afraid I’ll step on their feet, I kind of like to think it is for a far-out reason like this:

Yeah so you've got the knack to do the idiot jack
From your head to the tips of your toes
Now the whole world's doing it and everybody knows
(jack jack the idiot dunce)
He's a real cool cat and a real gone groove
(jack jack the idiot dunce)

And the girls go crazy when he starts to move
(jack jack the idiot dunce)
Now jack's a success he's got nothing to prove
(jack jack the idiot dunce)


Written by Ray Davies, performed by the Kinks

Anyways, goodbye to Slammers, thanks for being a place I can remember having fun.