"This Is Goodbye" Sunday March 11th, 2007

Sorry there isn't a comic today, but I had a very busy weekend and I wanted to celebrate what was a glorious blaze of glory by one of my bros. Some of you may know that Salem St.George is inspired by my friend George and that George is in a real life band called Stealing Jane, or the band formerly known as Hyjinx. Some of you may even know that George was in a band called Sprout before that. What few of you know was that George has been playing music in bands for well over a decade. He has played everywhere from small venues to stadiums and has shared the stage with some very well known bands such as the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, FOB, Tower of Power, and George Clinton. He's a damned good musician who is equally talented playing as he is writing. Recently, George has decided to step down from actively playing in his band and from playing bass for the immediate future.

 His last show was at the Rocklobster on Long Island this past Saturday and Dave, Jay, Colum, and I had the pleasure to see him play what was a massive show that showcased almost every Stealing Jane/Hyjinx song ever. The set ran close to an hour and a half and despite the length, almost everyone, including myself, wished it went longer. The band and George himself interjected stories of George's time in the band in-between songs that were hilarious and poignant at the same time. The band took two short breaks between songs to give George some presents which included GHII and a Fudgie the Whale ice cream cake. The final present was an engraved frame which would house a picture taken at the show with the band facing backstage framed by a huge crowd of fans cheering for the man of honor. Being one of the few who took a few pictures of that scene, I can tell you it was awesome. I'm glad he'll be able to remember his last show with such a sweet picture.

A short aside for people who know George in real life, to provide a bookend to the George's live show career, Jay threw some bread on the stage. For those good friends who couldn't be there, I thought of you when it happened and would like to say thanks to the Pastafarian, you were there in spirit.

The show finally came to an end and it was nice to see a bunch of fans waiting to say something to George and take some pictures with him. His music has touched a lot of people. I would like to say we then went and got some grub, but we all got put to work pulling the stage apart since the show ran so late and everything needed to be cleaned up pronto. Not that I minded since it was just another memory to add to the night. After the cleanup, alot of us went to the diner and we got to hear a bunch of crazy Stealing Jane stories. it was a great way to end the night despite the diner nazi not allowing us to eat the Fudgie cake at the diner.

Anyhow, I just wanted to give George a Ninja Spirit heads up with the jump he never got to do at his show on Saturday. I know it's not the real thing, but hopefully it's a good consolation gift.