Mon. July 19

Yep, the countdown to the Aerosmith-J. Geils Band show at Fenway Park Aug. 14 is in full swing. Heck, it has been since it was announced, the idea that these two iconic Boston bands - one still going despite all the odds (Aerosmith) and the other re-uniting for special occasions and nice paydays (Geils) - are playing together for the first time, well, it's got this parochial town's knickers in a twist. On the downside, it's Fenway Park, not a spot designed for an intimate concert. On the other hand, the House of Blues is a little more concert-friendly and it's where guitarist Jay Geils and palls Duke Robillard and Gerry Beaudoin are playing Monday July 19. (This gig takes place in the Foundation Room private club on the second floor.)
   It's kicking off The House of Blues and Powerhouse Breakout Artist Series present New Guitar Summit to benefit The International House of Blues Foundation. Geils you know. Blues guitarist Duke Robbilard has been one of New England's top blues guitarists for many years. And there's award winning jazz guitarist Beaudoin, who founded this thing back in 1997. What is it? New Guitar Summit is a revolving door of jazz guitar talent

Sun. July 18

I spent some time with the works of Edgar Cayce back in the late-'80s, intrigued. I'm equal parts Penn Gillette and The Skeptical Inquier - all this psychic stuff is bunk - and UFO-lologist and ghost story nut. Two parts I can't quite reconcile, and I'll give either side the nod, when properly persuaded to so and then swing back to my determined conflicted status vis-a-vis the supernatural. Why do I bring this up? The latest e-mail from guitarirst and buddy Asa Brebner (Modern Lovers, Chartbusters, Family Jewels, solo artist). "I was standing in the Goodwill in Davis Square," says Asa, "when I decided to give Edgar Cayce another chance. The book beckoned me. The ghost of Wayne Viens was standing next to me whispering in my ear and I want you to know - thank god, he is not even dead, he just gifted me his Iphone... Suffice it to say it was one of those moments when all elements collide- Time, space.. and why not?  In my own way I became 'unstuck in time' The people who first introduced  Edgar Cayce to me  ARE dead. Except (barring an unforseen incident), Mickey Clean.
  Steeped in atheist lore, I always dismissed him (Edgar) as another snake oil perveyor .  Closer now to the end than to the beginning,  I am prone to these existential paroxysms of vanity as a matter of course. Beware of the man who offers you a reward in this life or the next! 

Fri. July 16

Our favorite DJ, keyboardist-mixologist and former Del Fuego, Brother Cleve checks in: "We're having a heat wave, a tropical heat wave (as Kid Creole & The Coconuts sang many years ago)," he e-mails, "and what better way to deal with it than to revel in the tropicanality of it all! So to that end, I'd say the time is right to launch a new weekly tiki party, one that will feature exotic and tropical music and drinks and vibe - even though, sadly, the nearest palm tree is still about 1000 miles away."
It's sort of like our version of "California Dreaming." Sort of.
"Some long time friends of mine from the bar and nightclub business have opened a new spot in the Kendall Square complex called Think Tank," Cleve continues, "a self styled "bistro-theque" which functions as a restaurant, bar, lounge and dance club in the late nights. It's located across from the Blue Room and in the lower level beneath The Friendly Toast. We'll be launching "Freaky Tiki Fridays" as an afterwork affair to start off your weekend, especially for all you beachcombers that won't be able to get out of the city each weekend. Music starts at 5:30."

Thurs. July 15

And now for something rather spiritual ... The 11th Annual Lantern Festival at Forest Hills Cemetery is taking place Thursday, July 15 6-9 p.m. What's this, you ask? We went to our first in 2007 (and returned last year) and had this to say: Forest Hills Cemetery: It’s not just a big rolling green space to be buried six feet under any more. Never was, really. It was designed, early in the last century, not just as a burial ground, but as a place of rest, contemplation and beauty for the living. A park with splendid monuments, opulent crypts, sumptuous landscaping and a little lake.  “It’s the greatest outdoor sculpture museum in the country,” said Forest Hills Educational trustee Dick Smith.

Wed. July 14

 I was once played in a charity golf tournament with Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen and his son. His son was a scratch golfer; Nielsen a little more than that. So I asked: "What's your handicap?" Said Rick: "My handicap is golf." Ba-da-boom. Cheap Trick has been part of our pop-rock landscape since the mid-1970s. They've played clubs and arenas, toured with the cool and the uncool. One of the things that impresses most is they're a working band. They don't take much time off. They don't rest on their catalog, They've always mixed a certain tongue-in-cheek humor with their anthems. Singer Robin Zander always seems to be eternally youthful and Nielsen always plays multiple guitars and tosses zillions of picks at us. It's a ritual, it's a shtick, but it rocks and if "SMommy's all right/Daddy's all right/They just seem a little weird/ Surrender, surrender, but don't give yourself away!"  They co-headline Bank of America Pavilion Wednesday July 14 with another seminal pop-rock band, the UK's Squeeze. urrender" isn't the best generational bonding song of all time I don't know what is. "