A LOT OF PEOPLE BELIEVE they’d recognize a monster in their midst. Then there are those who’ve actually crossed paths with a monster. I don’t consider myself a keen judge of character, so much as a student of human nature. I don’t profess to be an expert in tells—God knows that World Series of Poker was the catalyst in the creation of a generation of amateur psychologists, those who presume to read minds and cards with so much as a twitch or blink of their subject.

When I was a little kid, before I knew about jazz, I knew about rock music. It was everywhere, the sound of the world, and I loved it. Thanks to my family, especially my father Vince Sperrazza, some of his friends, and Modern Drummer magazine, I absorbed a lot of info about rock drummers, especially drummers who weren’t ‘in bands’. A few names stood out, were spoken of with real reverence: Hal Blaine, Earl Palmer, Jim Keltner, and Jim Gordon.

“Iiiiiiiiit’s Showtime!” is a thing we used to say before some bean counters at Paramount, who’d presumably failed their way upward after starting out doing TPS reports, decided to murder in broad daylight the proud Showtime Boxing program. But we’re not bitter. No. Not at all. Anyway, “Iiiiiiiiit’s Showtime!” is a phrase that is particularly synonymous … ncG1vNJzZmian622r7PWoquhqpGouKq6zK6jr5memsZvv9Sbqq2Zk6B7pLvMaKdorJiaeqqvwalknqiZqLylsYxsaWaimaK6unnLnqWnp54%3D

This monthly interview series is a collaboration between Oldster Magazine and The Small Bow, A.J. Daulerio’s excellent newsletter about recovery and mental health, and will appear in both newsletters. Learn more about this collaboration in this Oldster podcast/videocast episode.Check out The Small Bow Joan Wasser is a songwriter, music producer, and live performer who works under the name “Joan As Police Woman.” She has released ten albums and regularly tours the world with her music.

We lost one of The Beatles of memoir comix. Pennsylvania born Joe Matt died at his California art table from an apparent heart attack at the age of just-turned 60. PEEPSHOW and Joe's slice-of-life comix are legendary and influenced my own semi-autobiographical work. No matter how cringe inducing (like a perverted Peter Parker), Joe gifted us permission to embarrass ourselves in public. To disarm the reader with too much information and document human faults in hopes of obtaining human connection.