Oh! Sweet Nuthin’

Den Haag

    I’m in The Hague or Den Haag as they call it here.  I’m 6 weeks into my adventure and will be in Den Haag for 7 days. Part of this travel experience consists of taking lots of photographs, which I love to do. I’ve talked before about how it’s the best medicine to cure what ails ya. The other day I was walking around central Haag, snapping photos on yet another cloudy, overcast day. 

Grote Markt-The building with the mural is Café Zéta

    I came upon Grote Markt in Central Haag. The market goes back to the early 17th century where a fruit and vegetable market existed. Now it's full of cafes, bars and restaurants, geared for the tourist as it’s in the center of the Hague, but I’m sure locals venture there too. It’s also close to tons of shops of all kinds, including the very fancy De Bijenkorf, a luxury department store chain.

De Bijenkorf

    De Bijenkorf was having a storewide 50% off post Christmas sale. I went inside. Many people were swarming around the sunglasses area. I tried on a pair. Original price, €320, so 50% off would be €160. Still ridiculous. And even if I had said, “Fuck it, I look cool as hell”, I’d end up losing them, probably pretty quickly. I’ve lost a lot of reading glasses and gloves over the years. I only buy cheap shades. Back at Grote Markt, I took a chance on a restaurant called Café Zéta. I was seated at a table. The menu seemed to have a lot of good items on it but I was craving frietjes so that’s what I ordered, with mayo and a Pepsi. The ambiance was first rate. Music coming from the speakers was late 60’s American rock. Janis Joplin, California Dreamin' and then…The Velvet Underground’s Oh! Sweet Nuthin’, my favorite Velvet song, written by Lou Reed and sung by Doug Yule who also plays the scorching guitar solo.

The Velvet Underground in 1970: Sterling Morrison, Lou Reed, Moe Tucker and Doug Yule (Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

    I had known of the Velvet Underground and Lou Reed since my early teens via AOR radio. But they only ever played “Rock and Roll”, “Sweet Jane” and "Walk On The Wild Side”, which is a solo Lou Reed song. I didn’t listen to any of their other music. I was aware they were an influential band and were part of the Andy Warhol scene. My friend Rob tried to get me to dig them once but I guess I just wasn’t ready. Then one day, in 2002, I was ready. I was watching a friend's editing reel she put together. She had used this song throughout her reel. It took me to another level. I felt as if m spirit was liberated. When it was over I asked her what that incredible song was. She said it was "Beginning to See the Light" by The Velvet Underground. I did see the light. Upon leaving my friend, I immediately hit up the Virgin Music store at Union Square and purchased the cd that song was on, The Velvet Underground. Soon after, I purchased White Light/White Heat and Loaded(Fully Loaded Edition). I played all 3 incessantly, for real, throughout the rest of 2002 and into 2003. I didn’t want to hear anything else. There was nothing else. Out of all those songs on those albums, my favorite was Oh! Sweet Nuthin’. I had the song on repeat in my 5 disc carousel, cd player. So when Oh! Sweet Nuthin’ came out of the speakers at Café Zéta, the table I was sitting at became a time machine and I was transported to my former home in The Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn in 2003.

Say a word for Jimmy Brown

He ain't got nothing at all

Not the shirt right off his back

He ain't got nothing at all

    I’m sitting in my second floor apartment in a prewar building on 93rd St and 4th Ave. I’m at my desk. It’s one of those cheap ones with a fake wood veneer and a couple of tiers on the desktop that you get at Office Depot. My big CRT computer monitor seems to take up half of it. My power Mac G4 tower is at my feet.

Say a word for Pearly May

She can't tell the night from the day

They threw her out in the street

But just like a cat, she landed on her feet

    There’s a large coffee and a blueberry muffin in front of me. Every morning I walk a block and a half across the street to get these at Dunkin’ Donuts. My office chair rolls easily on the linoleum floor that is on my living room. I’m scouring the web, looking at apartment listings on Stranger.com and Craigslist in the Seattle area. I’m moving there by June 1st and I’m really excited. Pixie, one of my cats, is on the Ikea tv console and my other cat Pollo is on the bed. I'm also looking online for pet carriers for the kitties. They are coming with me.

Pixie guarding my 5 disc carousal CD player

Pollo asleep on my sleigh bed

And say a word for Ginger (oh, sweet nothin')

He walks (he ain't got nothin' at all)

With his head down to the ground

They took the shoes (oh, sweet nothin')

Took the shoes from his feet, from his feet

    I don’t have a job. I have been laid off since August 2002 from my very good job at Oxygen Media. I’m earning some money by editing promo videos for an event coordinator and video reels for my co-workers at Oxygen Media, who also got laid off. I’m also working for my lawyer friend, helping him organize his files for his different clients.

She ain't got nothin' at all, sweet nothin'

Ain't got nothin' at all, sweet, sweet nothin'

She ain't got nothin' at all

    I see that J&R music world has a sale on digital cameras. I definitely would like to have one before I leave. Maybe i'll check that out later in the week. I'm making a list off all the things I'm going to sell. I wonder how much I could get for my Pottery Barn sleigh-bed frame. I wish I could take that with me. I'm buying the plane tickets very soon. Jet Blue's policy is one cat per person. I just asked Carla and she has agreed, to come with me to Seattle and be a cat wrangler. I got her a round trip...

    The song was over and I was back at Café Zéta. Back in the Hague. Back in 2025

    Everyone hears a song from the past and is taken back to when it was prominent in their life. But today, in Café Zéta, I was really there. I had closed my eyes and could really see what I described in my old Brooklyn apartment. I could even smell the coffee and muffin. I’m sure the two girls behind the bar were wondering what the hell I was doing.

Speaking of my friend Rob who tried to get me into The Velvet Underground back in the 80's, he made a short film a few years ago, "The Velvet Underground Played at My High School". Check that link for info.