Roger Zee Memoirs
NJ Taekwondo 6/18/20
Gil Scott Heron sang, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised." Man, did he get that wrong, LOL! So lately I took it upon myself to expand my twice daily Yoga routine to include my Taekwondo training. Eff with this bad boy, and pay the price. Welcome to another excerpt from my memoirs, "Life and Times of a Pandemic Musician."
Back in 1993, living a rather mundane, suburban, "Civilian" life ensconced in a recently purchased, beautiful home in Teaneck, NJ with my wife, Gwendolyn B Armstrong and two kids, Charlotte Mander and Spencer Zeitel, I threw in the towel on playing music for the second time. Moving to NJ put a real crimp in my style. Crossing two or more bridges to play gigs in Queens, Manhattan, and Brooklyn for $100 a man just proved too wearisome...
However, my wife soon got tired of me moping around on weekends, watching too much TV, and drinking too much vodka. Too bad Wendy didn't like it when I smoked weed and smiled, LOL. Anyway she told me about a sign she saw in the window of the recently closed Teaneck Camera on Cedar Lane, just around the corner from us. "Coming soon, TaeKwonDo Chon-Ji Academy. Master Brett Casser."
Wendy remembered that I loved all the Bruce Lee movies I saw at Brandeis University. Not so sure that she knew I reigned as the "Dodgeball King" of Saddle Rock Elementary School, LOL! Probably, the only sport I ever excelled at.
Intrigued, I took advantage of their free trial offer. Completely hooked! What red-blooded American boy wouldn't totally want to kick the crap out of another one! But after one week, my back locked up and I couldn't sleep for 4 nights in a row. Wendy saved my ass by sending me to her chiropractor who fixed me up in just two sessions. Now as I start kicking and punching again, I feel similar back twinges, so I make sure I put all my Yoga stretches to good use.
As an ancillary benefit to training in Taekwondo -- a few of us hung out afterwards next door at the club Geronimo's. And that's where I serendipitously met my good friend, drummer Cliff Hackford who played there often with one of my all-time favorite bands, "Cadillac Moon."
So on another delectable Covid-19 Spring day, when most of my friends believe the plague's all over, I remain steadfast at home learning the fantastic bass lines on Cadillac Moon's first album, "In the Kitchen," fondly remembering our whole family dancing around the living room to this great song while waiting for dinner to finish cooking. One <3
YouTube - In the Kitchen with Rosie - Cadillac Moon
©2020 Roger Zee