Captain Kidd: Not Quite the Coolest Pirate, but I've Been to His Pub

It's been a bit of time, hasn't it?

I've been busy in the best possible way. I've been productive. I've been adventurous. I've been sleeping in every morning. I've mastered the subway. I've discovered fantastic little pirate pubs, live blues music, and a little place called the Tower of London. Have you ever heard of it? It's a gem in East London. You might be able to find it on a really thorough guide to London. Or just look it up on Wikipedia.

I've got to tell you this really silly heartwarming kind of story. I was on the tube a couple days ago. I can't remember where I was headed off to or coming back from but it was kind of late I think. And I had my ipod with me. So I was flipping through songs. Now, when ever I ride the tube, I cannot help but to look at everyone and wonder about who they are and where they're going and so many people on the tube are traveling with other people and you should see the kinds of looks they share. Men just look at the ladies they're with with soft eyes and little kids look at strangers and parents look at their little kids and I'm there looking at all of them.

Anyway, I was already feeling in love with this train car and the song that came on my ipod was "Love Train" by the O'Jays. My first thought was "I wonder if that's Harry!" I always wonder if my old jazz professor, Harry Miedema, is playing on the O'Jays recordings because he played sax for them. A split second later I looked around me and thought, "Seriously, people all over the world join hands, cuz we're on the love train." One of the first lines after the chorus is:
"The next stop we make will be England."
I mean, come on! I couldn't help it. I started grinning like a fool because it was so priceless. I often think of my life as a movie or what it would be like if it were a movie and if my life were a movie what significance would this scene have?

So if my life were a movie it'd most certainly be a musical with choreographed dance moves and catchy tunes and awfully cheesy messages. So I sat there for the entire 3 minute song and imagined how every tired person on that train would perk up when the music was cued and actually join hands in a very spontaneous but planned count. I saw huge smiles, jazz fingers, kicks, and strangers dancing in perfect harmony. This image was so entertaining I looked at the guy across from me, he was young, several years older than me. He had a stylish hair cut and was wearing a suit and a black wool pea coat. He also had ear phones in. I envisioned him leading the unison clap on 2 and 4 and he looked up and caught my eye and stupid grin.

I wanted to offer one of my earphones to him but decided to tap my foot and look away instead. This moment would stay in my head. Sometimes in order for things to be really funny, they have to stay where they are cuz really, I don't think he would have found it as beautiful and ridiculously delightful as I did in my own mind. Could you imagine trying to describe to a complete stranger that you're honestly invisioning a real life dance number with all these real life people to the song "Love Train" by the O'Jays? I like to think it's not that uncommon of a thought. But it might be.

And I thought, yeah, I totally want world peace! This song could do it! It really really could motivate people! We could do it now, in this train! But, you know, if the song didn't do it '73 when it was a #1 then it probably won't now just playing on my humble ipod. But it was still such a wonderful moment. That guy kept looking at me and failed to figure out what I was so pleased with and no one started dancing.

I found my way to a bar called Ain't Nothin But. It's the only legit blues bar in all of London. Live blues every night. I went by myself. I bought myself a drink. I found myself a seat next to three 50+ year old locals. They were a hoot to talk to. They argued over blues music and we talked about bluegrass. They wanted to know who I'd dumped that night to be out by myself on a Friday. They were quite impressed that I'd go out by myself. Quite tenacious. Spot on, I like to think.