Get behind the mule

A review of a Tom Waits concert. (Muzzle of Bees)

From his slightly elevated stage Waits stomped his foot, raised his hands and began the evening with his signature growl and storytelling tales. Indeed, Waits would seem just as much at home guessing your weight or telling your fortune at the local town fair. Throughout the night he peppered his commentary with useless facts and trivial knowledge only he could deliver. I learned you could draw fourteen omelets from an ostrich egg; it’s illegal for women to parachute on Sunday, and that if every person in China climbed a ladder and jumped off simultaneously their collective landing could knock the world off its axis. The banter was an added bonus and hecklers (there were many) didn’t go unanswered.