Usurpers One, Two, Three

I have this old recliner in my house. I've had it al least since I got out of the Army in 1995 and maybe even longer than that. It's hard to say, I mean it isn't like I made special note of the date I received it because I'm sure I never dreamed that I'd have had it this long. My mother gave it to me so perhaps she could recall. Moms tend to remember details like that in my experience.

For the longest time it was my chair, my place of refuge.Then I got married. At first my wife always left it for me to sit in but gradually she started to sit in it more and more. Then we had a son and as he got older the more he tried to claim it from me.

However recently there has been another who has increasingly tried to make claim on it. The latest usurper to my throne is Alex The Cat. Ever since he adopted us he's become more demanding of what he feels is his by right. My recliner is being taken from me and there's nothing I can do about it. First a wife, then a son and now a cat. Such is life.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

notmovingpictures Episode 028: Losing Friends, Unrealized Dreams And Other Things

It's time for a solo rant again. Some things have been weighing on my mind as of late and I just had to get them out. I've been reading this journal that I briefly wrote in at the time that I was almost out of the Army in 1995 and then afterwards. It's made me realize that even back then I was a major procrastinator. I wrote about so many things that I wanted to do and even intended to do but never did. In fact, I recently have been slowly moving towards doing spoken word poetry and even fusing that with music but I basically was talking about doing just that thing all those years ago. Perhaps back then it wouldn't have amounted to anything and now is the right time. I have always been a late bloomer in life.



I also have had a few things happen with friends such as an old friend that I had to cut loose because he was just toxic to me and another incident that I don't really wish to share the details of. So I muse on losing friends and if I ever really knew him. I've got enough turmoil in my life as it is and I don't need any more from a supposed friend. I also speak about how societal wise this country is moving towards making you pay for your mistakes or actions from decades before now. As if you could never grow and learn from what you've done in the past. It's insane in my opinion.

Another thing I meander around is being stuck in a job or place in life where you can't do or say things without worrying if it will jeopardize your job. Of course a common subject on the podcast is that I feel  marijuana should be legal, medical or otherwise. There's a few other things I delve into like the whole Ebola scare and manufacturing fear but I'll let you hear it all for yourself. The past week or so has been a reflective period for me, one spent thinking about what was, what is and what may be. Nothing too deep, right? Right. That's what I do, think deep, sometimes too much so, and learn what I can.

Opening Music: Alloy - Live To See The Day
Closing Music: Public Image Ltd - Disappointed

Email: notmovingpictures@gmail.com Twitter: @notmovingpics
Blog: www.notmovingpictures.blogspot.com

Older episodes can also be found @ www.archive.org, just search for notmovingpictures

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Ten For Tuesday Episode 071: An Exercise In Frustration

If I could say only one thing about this episode it would be that it has been an exercise in frustration. Everything was ready but when I tried to put the pieces together the first song suddenly would only present itself in mono and everything that came after changed to mono as well. Eventually I decided to drop the track and add another but that meant I had to record the first two audio parts again. Since I was already re-recording I decided to do the third audio section as well since I had left the name of a song off originally. Once that was done I started to edit again and for some reason the front and back  ends of the audio sections were cut off. In a fit of anger I deleted it all, closed Audacity and then started editing all over again.........at 2am. That time it finally worked out well, okay better than the previous attempts, and if you want proof then you gotta listen.



Freedom Club - Stranger
Vic Ruggerio - Parking Lot
The Creeps - Ghost
Red Dons - Cold Hearted
Frozen Teens - Hopeless City
It's Raining - Days That Don't Begin
Marc Riley with The Creepers - Favourite Sister
Two And A Half White Guys - Bob
Pura Mania - Tus Ojos
Constant Insult - Constant Insult

Ten For Tuesday is a podcast dedicated to playing the music I couldn't find anywhere else. The music I like varies from style to style, genre to genre and era to era. You will hear punk, ska, rock, Americana, metal, country, rockabilly and more from all over the world. It doesn't matter if it's a major label or indie as long as I like it then it gets played. The motto is Less Talk More Music which means you won't hear me waxing poetic for fifteen minutes between songs. At TFT its all about the music...and me of course.

Email: tenfortuesday@gmail.com Twitter:@notmovingpics
Blog: www.notmovingpictures.blogspot.com

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Ska Beat 11/23/97

This is the second ever show of Ska Beat. It seems that while I was intent on taping the first few shows I was somewhat less diligent in actually hitting record or turning the tape over. As a result there are some unknown songs on here since I missed the part where I say what they are and can't find my old playlists. It is what it is. The sound is what it is as well. Like I said before these tapes are old and sometimes the equipment at WMUL emitted a buzzing sound, especially when talking. Still, this is an exact example of what I was doing at this exact moment in time. And trust me, I do get better at this, I've heard it on tape and you will too, as I get the other tapes out. So take a listen to what I was listening to:



Unknown Song
New York Ska Jazz Ensemble - John James
Skinnerbox - Move Like Ya Gone
The Slackers - Cooking For Tommy
The Toasters - Daddy Cry
Los Pies Negros - Siempre Igual
Buck-O-Nine - My Town
Ska King Crab - Mike The Barber
Dance Hall Crashers - He Wants Me Back
Magadog - Semi-Sweet
Supertones - Unite
Let's Go Bowling - Cumbia Del Sol
Save Ferris - Super Spy
The Skoidats - Granted
The Aquabats - The Story Of Nothing
Save Ferris - World Is New
Oi Skall Mates - Nutty Sound
Unknown Song
The Upbeat - 17 @ 17
Mephiskapheles - Introducing The Yellow Passion
Hepcat - Bobby And Joe
The Allentons - Pyramid Five
Madness - The Prince
Voodoo Glow Skulls - Malas Palabras
Laurel Aitken - Mad About You

I have chosen to include all of the Public Service Announcements, weather updates, mistakes and whatever else was recorded along with the music. Yeah, I'm that lazy. Be warned, the shows were taped on cassettes and as such may suffer from sitting around for the last seventeen years or so. WMUL had an ongoing issue of a loud hum that would periodically present itself when I was talking but normally it went away while the music was playing. Often I forgot to hit record or to turn the tape over at the midpoint of the show so there will be gaps in those songs as well as some being omitted entirely. I've tried to annotate when that happened and if the songs didn't make it on the tape I leave them off of the playlist.

What you end up with is a snapshot of where I was and what bands I was going to see in the latter part of the 90s. It was a great time to see live music as many ska bands came through the Huntington area on their way to somewhere else. Unfortunately I've lost my playlists from so long ago and my memory isn't what it used to be so there may be a few unknown artist and song listings. I'm not going to let that hold me back on posting these shows. Feel free to leave a comment and square me away on anything I've messed up or forgotten. Additionally I used to fill in at various times to keep WMUL on the air and I have about five tapes of those shows to go with the twenty odd tapes from Ska Beat. It's been a blast listening to these tapes and remembering a time in my life that is completely different from where I am now. Hope you enjoy the show because I definitely enjoyed doing it.

Email: notmovingpictures@gmail.com  Twitter: @notmovingpics
Blog: notmovingpictures.blogspot.com

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Time Off From School

So my son is out of school today and tomorrow for Fall Break. Next month he's out for a week for Thanksgiving and then of course in December it's two weeks for Christmas and New Years. Man, kids today have got it made. I don't even remember if we got s Spring Break much less a Fall one.
So do kids have too little school, too much or just enough? Who knows? Who cares?

Ah well, at least it means I get to spend some time with him before I have to go to work. I need to squeeze some time in for the park or something else he'll like. Maybe some video games too, just for bonding though. Not because I like playing them or anything. It's just important for us to spend time together whatever we end up doing.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Is That A Road Trip I See On The Horizon?

After recording the latest episode of notmovingpictures last Saturday I was preparing to leave Tommy's house when I remembered that I saw that Judas Priest was touring. I guess I let it slip my mind because the date they would be in Kansas City was a bit close and I was fairly sure it was too late to organize a road trip. While I was able to see Judas Priest in concert when I was in Germany Tommy and his son Chris have never seen them. They were extremely excited but that only intensified when we investigated and found that they will also be in a suburb of Denver on November 19th smack in the middle of our birthdays.

Mine is on the 16th and Tommy's is on the 24th. What better way to say happy birthday than to take a road trip? We haven't traveled to Denver before (I've been there solo for work) and were hoping to go next year if Rush is playing there when they go on tour. While that may still happen we are planning on going this year. After all, it has been over a year since we've taken a road trip. We've even got the whole eat local thing in the works as well. Tommy saw a place called The Buckhorn Exchange on Man Vs. Food that looks right up our alley. Plus they have a birthday club where you can get a discount for your entrée based on your age. You better believe we'll take advantage of that.

Now all I have to do is find some other cool things to do in Denver while we are there. Shouldn't be too hard. A record or book store or maybe a punk band playing the first night we're there would fit in nicely as far as I'm concerned. I'm quite sure we'll find something to occupy our time. My seven year old asked me if he was going and I had to say no. He'll be in school at that time. If it were the next week when he's off for Thanksgiving then perhaps it could happen but not this time. All this and Alloy is playing a show at The Shrine here in Tulsa on the 13th and Agent Orange is there on the 26th of this month. The future's looking bright.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

notmovingpictures Episode 027: Talking About Alloy, Pain Relief And More

Luck was with me Saturday night, I was able to go to Tommy's and hang out for awhile. While we were doing our usual talking I decided to break out the recorder and get another episode on the books. It is always hard for us to get together so when we do I try and record. It doesn't always happen though. This time we talk about Tommy's band Alloy who haven't been shall we say, operational. Well, they've got a show lined up for November 13th at The Shrine. We also talk about a different project merging spoken word and music together for Me, Tommy and his son Chris. As we shift to discussing taking a chance and realizing your dreams, doing it instead of thinking about doing it, we then progress to pain relief. Specifically medical marijuana, CBD oil, Kratom, Kava Kava and more. It's a lengthy talk over a vast array of topics and it's pretty cool, at least from my standpoint.



Opening Music: Alloy - Live To See The Day
Closing Music: Alloy - Silencer (demo)

Email: notmovingpictures@gmail.com Twitter: @notmovingpics
Blog: www.notmovingpictures.blogspot.com

Older episodes can also be found @ www.archive.org, just search for notmovingpictures.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Playing Hooky

This past Thursday as I was getting dressed for work I looked over at my wife who hadn’t been feeling well all day. Besides me going to work it was also time for her to go pick our son up from school. She had been laying down and sat up and at that moment I knew what needed to happen. Still, I asked her if she was going to be okay and she merely shook her head no. Next I asked the all important question concerning my job, “Do I need to call in?” This time she nodded her head in the affirmative and asked “Can you?” It was now my turn to nod in the affirmative and I did call right after changing my clothes again. No sense in walking around in work clothes when I don’t have to. Then I was off to pick our son up.

Naturally he was surprised to see me but very happy as well. I informed him what was going on and we traveled back home so that he could change his clothes and get a snack. After checking his school work we left the house (my wife was soundly sleeping at this point and I didn’t want to wake her) and I treated him to a long overdue visit to our comic book store. Yes I did indulge him (and myself) before we blasted off for the library where I again indulged him and let him play on the computer there for over an hour. Oh yeah, we got some books too, that’s always important. We tried going to a park (okay two parks) so he could play for a few minutes before it got dark but it was no good, both were deserted, so instead we monkeyed around for as long as we could.

Returning home once again this time for some dinner we found my wife awake and feeling much better. Before getting ready for bed I went over my son’s spelling words with him so that he would be ready for his test the next day. It turned out to be a very relaxing and very different kind of night for me. I got to do things with my son that I normally don’t get to do on a weeknight because I’m always working. My wife usually helps him with his schoolwork and takes him places. I normally take him on the weekends to do stuff or we do it as a family. That made it all foreign territory for me but in a good way.

It almost felt like I was playing hooky from work even though I wasn’t. I was just taking care of my son and letting my wife rest. As a matter of fact it did remind of those times in high school when I did cut school for a day. Don't worry, it's not as if I was a horrible delinquent or anything. It's just that once or twice a year the pressure of dealing with everything that was high school and life would build up until I felt like I needed a break. So I’d stay home and my older sister Teresa would write me a note and forge our mother’s name on it and all would be well with the world. That’s what Thursday night felt like for me, a nice break where I was able to relax and enjoy my family and life.

It also served to underscore for me how fleeting these times are and if I go around putting things off or waiting for a better time I’ll miss a lot of things. I need to schedule a day off here and there occasionally so that our family can get together and enjoy our time together. Work can wait but doing things together that only helps to strengthen us as a family cannot wait. All you have to do is blink and time will pass you by and you’ll never get the chance to do it again. Thursday was my reminder, let’s hope I keep remembering and doing it. I owe it to them.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

The Nameless Faceless Boy

          He was a small lad and even as he gained his age he never quite made it to the levels achieved by others. Still, his stature (or lack thereof) was perfectly suited to aid him in his quest to go unnoticed as he slid and skulked down the back hallways of the school. After all, attention only brought about humiliation and pain, both the mental and physical kind. Bullies were always a plentiful commodity. Different groups had their own nicknames for him and others like him. They always thought they were so funny and cool. Years later if pressed his classmates could only admit that they knew of him without really knowing him. Although they found this to be a peculiar thought, rarely, if ever, would one of them actually spend any time ruminating over him. It just wasn’t done. After all, his kind was beneath them. It just wasn't done. If they had bothered to take even a few moments to speak with him they would have found underneath the shyness and insecurity an intelligent, gentle and surprisingly caring young man. Of course they never did, speak to him that is. It was far easier to ignore him until one of the more aggressive classmates chose to publicly humiliate him. Then they merely laughed at him.

          As a matter of fact it was doubtful that any of them noticed when he left school, never to return. There were no questions regarding if he had moved, if he was sick or injured or what exactly had happened to him. One day he was there and the next he was gone. Poof, like magic. They neither cared or even noticed his disappearance. Life continued on as usual, another of the lost ones fell into his place. After all, the”haves” always need someone to be the focus of their unwanted attention. So another unnamed one took his place and he fell between the cracks of their memory. As far as they were concerned he no longer existed. Except he did of course. He traveled to another place. Another counselor lamented that she wished she could have gotten to him sooner so that he could have reached his full potential. He managed to continue his incognito ways although he did slightly peak out of his shell. There he began the long trek to become who he should have always been. The process was a long one but in the end he learned that it's never to late to make an impact. It's never too late to realize your dreams. It's never too late to become the person you want to be. It's never too late no matter what they say. The only one who can hold you back is you. So let yourself go just like he did.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Caught In Your Lie

Okay, This is a fresh one, done tonight. Although it's not about someone close to me it is about someone I have to interact with several days a week. That alone makes it worth getting off my chest since I cannot say it to his/her face at this time. So I got that going for me.

New minted freshly hired from without

Didn’t take long for your colors to show
Given the chance to come clean
Show some character and admit it
Caught in your lie and still you persist
Caught in your lie and still you resist
You’d rather stand on your pedestal
Shout how you’ve been wronged
Any attempt to do the right thing
Burned after you’d crossed that bridge
Caught in your lie and still you persist
Caught in your lie and still you resist
Push the issue and take it as far as you can
Your mock outrage at the front
Until you run up against the final wall
I’m already tired of carrying your dead weight
Caught in your lie and still you persist
Caught in your lie and still you resist
Can’t wait ‘til you’re gone
Can’t wait ‘til this charade is over

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Ten For Tuesday Episode 070

As usual I've waited until very late to try and get this out so I'll make this short and sweet. The first three songs are from Dirtnap records releases, I just got them last week. The last three are from the Megalith records sampler that you can get from their bandcamp page. I've been listening to my old Ska Beat tapes so naturally I've been wanting to put a lot more ska on the podcast. That's a good thing. Anyway, here's the music for this episode.\



High Tension Wires - Incorporeal
Bad Sports - Nothing In This World
Airfix Kits - Leaving
Red Dons - My Life In Exile
The Blame - Little Girls In Hollywood
Cortez The Killer - Brian Jones Haircut
Teenage Cool Kids - Reservoir Feelings
Bomb Town - NJ & NY Posse
Mile 21 - Fool You
Westbound Train - A New Hope

Ten For Tuesday is a podcast dedicated to playing the music I couldn't find anywhere else. The music I like varies from style to style, genre to genre and era to era. You will hear punk, ska, rock, Americana, metal, country, rockabilly and more from all over the world. It doesn't matter if it's a major label or indie as long as I like it then it gets played. The motto is Less Talk More Music which means you won't hear me waxing poetic for fifteen minutes between songs. At TFT its all about the music...and me of course.

Email: tenfortuesday@gmail.com Twitter: @notmovingpics
Blog: www.notmovingpictures.blogspot.com

Old Episodes can be found by going to www.archive.org and searching for Ten For Tuesday

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.