Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co., and here's hoping yours is both merry and bright.  Ho, ho, ho!

*THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26th / OTTO'S SHRUNKEN HEAD /
It's a Boxing Day special at the always festive Otto's! / 538 East 14th Street (just west of Avenue B) in Manhattan / 8:00 sharp 'til 10:00 / No cover charge or tithing required  

*WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8th / RODEO BAR /
Our monthly Rodeo residency continues into 2014! / 375 Third Avenue (at the corner of 27th Street) in Manhattan / Three bell ringing sets, from 9:00 sharp 'til midnight, with no cover

Seasonally yours,
Michael, Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co.
"Ballads, Boogies & Blues"

As I may have said in the past, I have no real problem with Christmas in general. It’s just all the extraneous gubbins that it’s come to embody that I can’t abide. Each to their own, but the less I have to deal with then the better it is for everyone. I’m luckier than most in that respect because I just retire to the bunker and that’s pretty much what is on the cards.

“New year” is never that. And the hale fellow well met, hollow greetings that surround it further stick in this particular craw. Of course, one wants their friends and family – often the same thing – to enjoy some kind of gratification ALL the time. Not just for a couple of commercialised up the wazoo weeks a year. This year, I’m stuck in the salt mine until 1.30pm on Christmas Eve. Them’s the breaks. It comes with the territory and as the clock creaks toward that finishing line, it can’t come quick enough. As bah humbuggers go, I’m pretty set in my ways but there will be good times had over the course. I get to see some folks that I get way too little of and will undoubtedly communicate with many other from here in the confines of base camp. There may even be some proper blogging here and there but no end or best of the year lists. There are already plenty of those doing the rounds.

So – do whatever it is you need to do to make it through the bunfight. May your days and nights be merry and bright. The polar opposite of something that rhymes with that last word.

This latest palaver with being asked at the post office what is in the packages you’re sending is getting right up my humph.

They’re only following orders but really, if someone is putting something iffy in there – would they tell the truth about the contents? Er, perhaps not on your nelly - divot postal wallah that came up with this particular annoyance. So with the advent of the ongoing price hikes and this most recent invasion of privacy, I’m pretty close to stopping sending stuff out. And I should stop ordering stuff too because I’ve no room for it so maybe it’ll be like stopping smoking or something. Perhaps I’ll save myself some money if I could discipline myself to follow through with all this. As much as I'd like to start unloading "the archive", this further makes it seem unlikely.

Me no' big on interrogation. If someone starts trying to get something out of me that I don’t want to tell then the hackles go right up. Bloody jaggy they are too. I don’t actually want to divulge what is in what I’m sending. Customs labels are bad enough. It spills the beans for the recipient and it could spoil the surprise. I'm trying to figure out who I can harangue about this. No point in giving the counter staff both barrels. Not all of them anyway.

One week from tonight...

The whole LBC set!

 

'Tis the season for holiday cheer. And Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. is full of it -- starting with a rare Friday night visit to Otto's this week!

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6th / OTTO'S SHRUNKEN HEAD /
It's the official pre-party for the 4th Annual NYC Beard &Mustache Competition! / 538 East 14th Street (just west of Avenue B) in Manhattan / Three well-trimmed sets, from 9:00 'til midnight / Free, and open to all!

And, in slightly less hirsute shows to finish out the year...

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11th / RODEO BAR / It's a hillbilly holiday edition of our monthly residency! / 375 Third Avenue (at the corner of 27th Street) in Manhattan / A trio of merry, merry sets, from 9:00 sharp 'til midnight, with no cover.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26th / OTTO'S SHRUNKEN HEAD / We return to Otto's to bask in the Christmas afterglow / 538 East 14th Street (just west of Avenue B) in Manhattan / 8:00 sharp 'til 10:00 / No cover -- and free holiday cheer.  

Yours in holiday spirit, Michael
Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co.
"Ballads, Boogies & Blues"

And it kind of seems like it was just yesterday...