I Hang, Mysteriously

Usually open to suggestion, I checked my horoscope the other day, and it's parting bit of advice was: Tonight: Hang with mystery. Hmmm. So I immediately donned my trench coat and fedora, grabbed my Zippo and a new pack of unfiltered Chesterfields, and trekked down to Silly's, my favorite watering hole. I hung out in a dark corner for a couple hours eyeing the skirts and sussing the mooks, but nothing happened other than Silly himself, passing me with an armful of empties, saying, "Hey, Spade, it's Christmas, not Halloween." So I shrugged my shoulders knowingly and headed back home. Once there I grabbed a dog-eared John D. MacDonald mass market, jumped up and grabbed the chandelier, and hung while reading a few chapters. I'm pretty sure the redhead did it, but my arms got tired and I had to drop the whole enterprise. I shrugged my shoulders knowingly and took up my well-used copy of the I Ching. I threw it, but lost it in a pile of dirty clothes. I shrugged my shoulders knowingly and realized that if you solve the mystery, it's no longer a mystery (chalk one up for the wise fool), so I chose to let the mystery be

Let The Mystery Be--Iris Dement by spitoutyourgumblog


and headed for the supremely unmysterious milieu of my Favorites bar on the Internet. There I soon discovered that the glorious Don Van Vliet, aka Captain Beefheart had died.

I allowed myself to cry because I know I'm a man.



You Know You're a Man--Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band by spitoutyourgumblog

No mystery there. Simply the rockingest, most feral sound man (or woman this side of childbirth) has ever created.

But why now, Don? You've been pretty much a recluse for nearly thirty years. Why choose this particular moment in history to boogie off this mortal coil? Before I could even slap myself for pondering such a deep mystery moments after swearing to let the mystery be, it hit me. Captain Beefheart succumbs (finally?) to mortality just days after Neil Diamond is elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Ain't no mystery in that to hang with.

I shrug my shoulders knowingly.