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| In Memoriam |
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NOTORIOUS
BLOG 8/20/2006 After the virus, I came to realize many things. One is that I don't blog a lot. Reasons for this are: 1) By the time I'm thinking of stuff to blog, I've shut off my main computer where the fancy Dreamweaver (aka how I update my site) is & it's late & I'm lazy enough to just forget about it 2) Been meaning to start blogging on MySpace which is available everywhere, including road trips & vacations...but forget to write a note such as this to let people know. Now
I've remembered! SO...I MAY blog here again from time to time, but
for a more consistent blog, please check out my MySpace page at:
http://www.myspace.com/notoriousradio 7/10/2006 Beware
W32.Jeefo virus. May not seem like much & Norton is supposed
to be able to handle it...nope. Back from the abyss, lots to catch
up on. Will blog more later... 6/5/2006 After a SUPER dismal start, the Liberty had their first home game Saturday & pulled off a win in overtime vs. LA. After seeing them lose BIG the first two games & have a heart-breaking one point loss to Detroit, I was sure Saturday would be another loss. But no. They rallied BIG time & once again rookie Sherrill Baker (#10) showed why she was our first draft pick. Simply astonishing basketball. Let's hope this means they have finally gelled. Ned's Atomic Dustbin are BACK. You can check out the new music here. CAN'T WAIT for the new album...& tour??? Let's see...whom else did we see...Brian Jonestown Massacre came to town and actually pulled off an AMAZING show at Webster Hall. Now I understand what all the fuss is about...Anton even turned DOWN the opportunity to get into it with folks in the audience. AMAZING. We also saw for the first time Soundpool. I can't say anything but AMAZING. Great live instrumentally, visually...and a great record to boot. With them played Plumerai from Boston who did a solid set, Unlove who have REALLY grown in their sound and Rex Nexus on the 1s & 2s. GREAT night at Pianos. We also ended up at a random loft in Greenpoint, Brooklyn & saw Elika (again, astonishing) & a band called Mahogany who kicked some serious ass. Great month for music! American Idol ended & though I didn't watch it every week, I kinda knew Taylor would get it from the get. Just SO different...I figured either eliminated early or champ. Good to see America chose someone older & quirky. Maybe all those record execs are WRONG as to what America wants. Hehe Amazing Race also ended with my boys, BJ & Tyler, taking first. TTOW, gentlemen. Well played & way to show us hippies aren't lazy & useless. I kid. Sopranos also ended last night. I have to say it was an OK season, though I'm still not sure why they spent SO much time last week on Carm visiting Paris. oh well. looks like the last 8 will be jam packed. Also, pleased to find out Adult Swim is picking up the one & only, Pee Wee's Playhouse starting in July. Holy moly will that bring back memories... Movies-wise, we FINALLY signed up for NetFlix. We've seen End of the Century, New York Doll, The Apple (HIGHLY recommended for fans of Rocky Horror, download the soundtrack here), Rise & Fall of Gator and the new John Waters, A Dirty Shame. We also caught Imagine on one of the cable channels, it was crazy to see all of the spots we had visited in Liverpool. John was a really special guy. Reading, I finished Eldest & OH MY GOD can that kid write. I can't wait until the new installment comes out. Also slowly plodding through Rip It Up & Start Again, doing my music research along the way because I'm that kind of dork. Also about done with Richard Branson's autobiography, Losing My Virginity. That guy seriously RULES. A VERY different way of doing business & I honestly can say I'd rather be like him than Trump. ANY day. Memorial Day weekend came so we went to Long Beach on our new bikes...I bought a beater Schwinn Stingray off EBay & Daniel bought a Huffy BMX from KMart & we had a BLAST!!! It was good to be in the sun & near the ocean. I really do miss the beach. We also had a few people over for a BBQ, again, perfect weather and good times. We also started doing Yoga at a local gym. WE LOVE IT. We both feel like we've finally found the type of "work out" that's right for us. No machines, no "Give me one more!". Just us, a really mellow teacher (whose also a nutritionist which is good for cleanse questions), stretching & chilling. To close here is an oddiy a friend sent me...enjoy.
T-minus 19 days until the first Liberty home game. Feels like yesterday the season ended. Guess that's what a Wedding, Holidays, the Honeymoon, etc will do. It's a pre-season game vs. the Champion Sacramento Monarchs. Kinda psyched to see our new line up. We went YOUNG, and thankfully kept Becky. Maybe I should get DVR before the season starts so I can have a life this Summer? Hmmm... Our first night back from the UK, we went out to celebrate Cheryl's Birthday with dinner at Thai place Holy Basil then drinks at Chumley's...but Chumley's was PACKED, so we hit tourist trap Jekyll & Hyde (the kid who loves Halloween in me doesn't die easy) & creepy hang Slaughtered Lamb before trying Chumley's again...SET!!! We had some of their own brewed beer...and in walks Drew Barrymore in a "daisy chain" of people all holding hands. If the dumb asses at the table by us hadn't immediately set upon the poor girl, she may have stayed, but as it was they walked in & basically right back out. Makes you kind of sad for the famous. They just want to have some drinks with friends!!! Oh well, can't be TOO sad as they can afford to own their own bars should they want to. Wait...isn't she supposed to avoid all substances after her abuse as a kid??? The 15th marked 6 months of marriage to Daniel. It's kinda weird to wake up one day, 31, married, etc. Things you could never conceive of when you were growing up. But I guess like John Lennon sang, "Life is just what happens to you, while your busy making other plans," We did a few things to celebrate. First, it was gorgeous, so we did some work in the yard with our friend Mallory. Planted flowers, tomatoes...good stuff. Then we went to Rizzo's, one of our fave Italian places in Astoria (also where Dennis, head waiter, knows us now so we get buy backs on their homemade wine). It STAYED nice, so we all shuffled off to The Beer Garden...only to encounter one fight breaking up, a pocket knife left on the abandoned table we found, and at least one more fight. Guess folks had a lot of angst built up over the winter? This past Friday, after an afternoon of lunch at PJ Clarke's, drunken "OK, how much does THIS cost?" at Bloomie's (um, I really can't fathom paying $1000 for a shawl that would look more at home on a Grandmother's dining room table) & thrift store shopping with Cheryl & Mallory, Daniel & I met up at Moustache, an amazing pan-Mediterranean restaurant in the Village. From there it de-volved into trying to find Real Ale, which was quickly thwarted by, "lets just get a beer". Real Ale, we're on the case. We WILL find you. Here's something to make you smile, even if it is a bit creepy. Been doing a LOT of reading lately. Finding that Q magazine & I line up on a lot of music. Like how I just don't "get" Hawthorne Heights. Good band, sure, but I don't see why they're THAT big. Guess the corporate machine is still out there cranking away, even if they're on an "indie". In the UK found a book by Bez of the Happy Mondays called "Freaky Dancing". Turns out Bez is a LOT more eloquent than you'd think, and is very quick to point out his "path" wasn't necessarily anything anyone SHOULD follow. Good philosopher that Bez. Also started one of the first books about Post-Punk I think I've ever seen, "Rip It Up & Start Again" by Simon Reynolds. Covers the years 1978-1984, mostly in the UK, the US a bit, Germany a bit...LOVING IT. Listening-wise, been hooked on the Sorted! compilation (baggy Manc anthems), Mark Gardener, the Garage Beat '66 compilation disc 1, Mazarin & The Creation. Then UPstairs, still going through the CDs my Sister burned me from her vinyl. Listened to 999, Elton John, Iggy & Stooges, Bob Seger, Traffic, Dictators, Argent, Suzi Quatro, Magazine, Blondie...all completely drawn at random from the HUGE stack she sent. Thanks again, Nose! Also been cooking up a storm, what, with Trader Joe's now just in Union Square. Kismet!!! Thursday's 80 degree heaven found me making my work calls from Central Park. This is what I LOVE about Spring. Then, due to the rain this past weekend, watched some serious TV/movies. The "Elizabeth" series on HBO kicked ass, finally saw "Million Dollar Baby" which fucking ruled. "Before Sunset" was very accurately described to me as, "great idea, kinda misses the mark in execution". Rain is GOOD though because now I don't have to worry about watering the plants. Guess that's about it. This week will mark the first shows I go out to since we've been back. I'll let you know how it all turns out. One thing is for sure: I have never fully appreciated the smoking ban in NYC until now. Cheers! p.s.
Here are two things to make you really wonder if we're not in a
neo-McCarthy era. Click here for radio
no-nos...and here for some eerie
propaganda. 4/14/2006 Good Friday. Also one week since we got back from the UK. This past week has been a mess of trying to get caught up, but it's nice to feel focused again & "ready for anything". But that's less interesting than the gory details of the trip, so here goes: Day
One: London.
Arrived after a red eye flight on which we we fed like kings, watched
"Goodnight
& Goodluck", "Wedding
Crashers" (OK, so the crazy turbulence had me geeked
& I needed some silliness) & part of "Emily
Rose". Virgin
is an amazing airline. We're even considering them for NY-LA travel.
Met up with Shade,
who had all made it through customs as well, good to see some familiar
faces. Then off to our friend Ben's out in Surrey for a day of sleep,
pastys
(mmmmmmmmmmmmmm...pastys), Casey the dog, some curry & British
telly. Slept like a brick. Day
Two: We were itching to get into London, as you always are at
the start of a journey. So, off we went, stopping off in Wimbledon
for a pint & pasty & to buy our weekly unlimited "Oyster
Cards" (like Metro Cards), then off to Big
Ben, Westminster
Abbey, walking along the Thames, almost riding The
Eye, then we realized we had to hightail it to go see Shade
in their first UK appearance. So we shuffle through Leicester
Square, Piccadilly,
Oxford
Circus & get a text the show had been cancelled because
the headliners had arrived like 20 minutes late & the promoter
pulled it. No worries though, we met up at an ancient bar called
The
Angel off Denmark
Street by St.
Giles in the Fields church for incredibly cheap yummy Sam
Smith's pints, crisps & getting properly "pissed".
We later read about The
Angel & found out it had been, for a time, the site of where
the condemned got their last pint before being hung just paces away.
This is why I love the UK. A scramble back home (forgot the trains,
like, stop in London), a late night curry & didn't sleep for
shit. Ah jetlag. Day
Three: Awoke early to hit the town & take the train in with
Ben. Being COMPLETELY knackered, we thought we might get on one of
those cheesy tourist "off & on" tour buses, so we
could SEE London but not have to deal with walking it. But first,
we thought we'd duck out for some breakfast (which we paid approx.
$20 for). As is the case in these situations, after a full belly,
we both could barely keep our eyes open. So...we checked into the
nearest hotel (The
Regent Palace in Piccadilly) for some much needed rest. 3 hours
later & feeling more confident, we decide to hit the streets.
This is where we realize that London may not have been the best
first place to stop. It's like NYC crowded (& of course when
you're staying in Piccadilly,
the London equivalent of Times Square, all the more so), more than
NYC expensive & the people, well, there's NO order to how they
walk about. We ended up mighty annoyed. Note: it's also virtually
impossible to find or get salad or broccoli
in London. Everything comes with peas
& some form of potato.
Day
Four: Breakfast at Benjy's,
a local take away spot with cheap food & coffee. Note: everytime
I ordered coffee in the UK I receoved it with milk & sugar in
it. Chilled out a bit in Golden
Square. Hit Virgin
Megastore #1 (it WAS the first) & buy some mags that would
cost, like $10 back home...and find Morrissey's
Manchester (guide to the Smith's
sights in Manc) & then find that Q
has a special issue dedicated to Manc as well. As if all signs were
pointing towards Manc. As we are BIG Manc music fans, we buy them
& know our trip later in the week in Manc will be THAT much
more interesting. Annoyed by constant crowds,and realizing London
isn't a "restful getaway", we decide to leave for Oxford
a day earlier , so we go to Charing Cross station & buy tix
for what we think is good for Friday travel. Have some food, consisting
of "jacket & salad", which is a baked potato filled
with stuff & a "salad bar". Note: we are salad/produce
snobs. We also decide we needed to get away from the constant
droves of people, so we high-tailed it to the East End, hearing
it was "cool" over there, plus that's where we had to
go for our Jack
The Ripper Tour. Day Five: Knackered beyond belief. Had to check out of hotel, mainly because we had been wearing the same clothes for three days, in the rain & smoke, & knew we must not have smelled too good, despite showering everyday. We decide to go to Camden in the day time as we had heard it's like the Village. It was very Village-like, complete with "fuck you you fuckin' fuck" tees & the Camden Market where you can haggle with the folks who runs them on price. Daniel got a sweet Spiritualized tee for 5 pounds (like $8)...then we heard the most amazing drum-n-bass in the air. Where was it coming from? We found the shop & just sat on their couch for a bit enjoying the moment. We
decide to eat, end up at some crappy Mexican food spot (Note:
Brits cannot make decent burritos)...and right across the way,
some school boys get into a HUGE brawl, complete with the throwing
of chairs at one another from the cafe across the way. We looked
away as much as we could, not wanting to be witnesses. Nothing more
came of it, thankfully. In the US, they would have had guns easily.
We took a walk down the locks,
& ended up in Primrose
Hill, where one of those wanky
Gallagher brothers from Oasis lives. We were steps away from
the famous
crosswalk from the Beatles "Abbey Road" album cover...but
decided we HAD to sit & do nothing. So, along came a bus, bound
for god knows where, so we took it. Turns out it was going through
the ghettos of North London. Right past a prison & everything.
At the nearest Tube stop, we get off the bus & hightail it back
to Aldgate East Tube to meet Ben & his friend Emily for some,
again, curry. Day
6: Not too eventful. The week of jetlag & the day/night's
adventures left us pretty mellowed out. And we had the distinct
sense...the jetlag was finally over. Spent the day at Ben's, watching
telly, caught this comedian Peter
Kay's video (he's hilarious when you can understand him...can't
wait to go up North!), eating Cadbury
Twirl Bars (think...crack) & ordered in some Chinese, which
they called "ordering a Chinky", which was a bit offensive
for us, but they assured us that there in Surrey it was common.
Then we decide we should go bowling, as there are lanes not too
far away & Ben's brother Adam had a car. Bowling
is a really good leveller of situations. It's the same everywhere,
no matter if the follow the metric system or drive on the "wrong"
side of the road. Beer
is also a good leveller. We were feeling pretty damn good. And were
pretty terrified of the group of girls bowling next to us. We could
just envision the ball come flying backwards off their hands &
killing one of us. Thankfully, that didn't happen. Slept well again.
Day
7: Off to Oxford...but
realized the tickets we had bought HAD to be used on the day we
bought them. We were out 32 pounds (like $50)...and had tried negotiation
with two different agents. All was lost until Daniel used the word
"honeymoon" with the ticket agent. That word got
us through a lot of situations that could have played out very differently.
We got a call from our friend Corbin
who was in London randomly with his girl Wilson. They had been living
in The
Hague, Netherlands for the past 3 months. So we met up, had...pints
& pastys/fish & chips/steak & guinness pie or something
& realized it was really good to see a familiar face again.
It was also here we found out about the Dick
Whittington Ale Trail. "Next trip," we assured
ourselves, "we'll have the tee shirt". Day
8: Awoke early, excited by what we had seen last night &
wanting to get photos. We had comp breakfast in the hotel, so we
enjoyed it, then got on our way. Turns out it's not a bad walk into
City Center. We also found produce stands again & scarfed on
some tomatoes,
cucumbers
& carrots.
And had some fresh squeezed juice. From there we toured St.
Michael at the Northgate cathedral that was erected in like
1020 or something, and has amazing views of the City from up top.
That was right next to the New Inn, an original Tudor-style building
that was erected in 1329 or something. Purely ancient. Found the
famous "Eagle
& Child" pub where The
Inklings drank (members including JRR
Tolkien, CS
Lewis & more) & shared their books. Then we got some
pasta & got our tix for Madchester
the next day. Day
9: Overslept check out time and after hurried showers, we set
off for the train stations to catch the next bus to a train to Manc.
Not too eventful, aside from being absolutely stunned by the countryside
again. There's these tiny towns right by rivers that we will DEFINITELY
look into next time. So peaceful. Arrived in Manc
about 5:30 & followed the cab directions to our friend Mike's
place out in Stretford. I basically went through the crucial years
(jr high, high school & discovering substances, then growing
out of it) with Mike and we hadn't had a proper chill out, get to
know each other, in awhile. We ate some food, he put the kids to
bed, then we drank some beers, had some crisps, enjoyed his sweet
kitty Megan, watched some telly & slept like babies. Day 10: Did a quick load of laundry & headed out to Manc, determined to find the Hacienda & do some record shopping. After a quick half pint & steak & guinness pie, we did just that. The cheeky bastards who bought the location of the Hacienda to make apartments had named them...The Hacienda apartments. We wandered around Manc, finding all sorts of cool pubs, clubs, record stores, etc. Felt the most at home we had the whole trip. Mike
had gotten a sitter for the kids that night, so after putting our
clothes out on the line to dry & eating some quick food, we
walked over Morrissey's
famous iron bridge from "Still Ill" & ended
up in Chorlton at a brewery called Marble.
BRILLIANT beers...and all organic. When they closed Mike knew of
a spot called The
Iguana (all Czech beers) that had stand up comedy & were
open an hour later. We endulged & the comedian was actually
funny. Done with smoke for the night (I had a nice bronchitis-like
cough by this time after all the smoke & freezing rain), we
end up back at Mike's drinking margaritas then doing tequila shots.
And sleeping like babies. Day
11: Off to Liverpool
on what was definitely the coldest day of our journey. Note:
They say the North is colder. It is. They also say Northerners are
really hard to understand. They are. The train out to Liverpool
was fairly uneventful, aside from some "bizzies" getting
into words with the ticket taker. This old guy had the gaul to say
to the cops, "I've already got an arsehole, I don't need
two more"...in thick "scouse" (slang for L'Pool
accent/folks). We met up with Mark for our personalized
journey/tour of Beatles sites. We made the right choice in companies,
FOR SURE. We kept passing the "Magical Mystery Tour"
bus, full of people. I'm sure it would have been cool, but Mark
was able to take us places they DIDN'T go, namely the very spot
where John Lennon met Paul Mc Cartney. Showed us where John
had played with The
Quarrymen, showed us where Eleanor Rigby was buried. Cool stuff
like that. We also saw all 4 of their childhood homes, Penny
Lane, Strawberry
Fields, the
Cavern (which has been re-built to scale on the site of the
old Cavern)...and learned a good deal of "scouse". Mark,
turns out, is also a music geek, so we talked about The
La's, Echo
& the Bunnymen, Dead
or Alive, etc. All in all, we were VERY impressed with the experience.
More pricey than the Magical Mystery Tour, but well worth
something as personalized as that. If you're going to Liverpool
& want their info for these guys, lemme know. Back to Manc
for...more curry, this time in Rusholme
(as in "Rusholme Ruffians"), and some sleepy time.
Still sleeping well. Day
12: The one sunny day of our journey. And, being in Manc, &
thisclose to where Morrissey met Marr, we crossed the iron bridge
again to Moz's old house. Then off to Chorlton for some food
(amazing veg joint called Battery
Park, haha, Note: finally GOOD coffee too)...and
being as it was a dreaded sunny day, we went to the Cemetry
Gates. We WERE gonna do the Salford
Lads Club, but opted instead to go back into Manc to enjoy other
sites we hadn't seen. Such as Manchester
Cathedral where someone must have been practicing the organ
because the eeriest music was coming out of it, which, of course,
we LOVED. Also saw the various mosaics around Arndale
Center. Hit some record shops again & decided a pint was
in order at, yet ANOTHER Elizabethan-era pub, The
Old Wellington Inn. Day
13: Back to London.
Because we didn't buy the day before, we ended up paying the US
equivalent of $200 to get back to London. OUCH!!! But the free radio,
Virgin cola
(yup, Branson
is in the pop game as well) & decent burgers on board the train
made it a bit easier to stomach. More gorgeous English countryside
& in a quick 2:20 we were back in London. Checked back into
the Regent
Palace & left quickly for the Tower
of London. I think by now you're seeing a pattern: art Galleries?
No. Famous Rock spots? Yes. Palaces? No. Places where gore happened?
Yes. Fine dining & shopping? No. Tee shirts & CDs &
pints & pub food? Yes. Anyhow, got to the Tower
of London about an hour before it closed & sadly all of
the guided tours were done for the day. So we rented headsets &
walked through the goriest parts I remembered: where folks were
tortured, where they were held & carved their names in the stone...and...where
they were beheaded, then buried. There's 1500 bodies under the
cathedral on the site. All smiles. Daniel dug it too. Next time
we HAVE to do London
Dungeon & the
Clink Prison Museum. For sure. Day
14: Leaving the UK kinda put a damper on the mood. We checked
out of the hotel, checked our bags in storage (for 3 quid each bag...$5...ouch!)
& went for some food & to read out in Golden
Square. We chilled out there for a bit, then got our bags &
were on our way back to the USA. On the plane (which was bumpy as
hell again), we drank lots of wine, Daniel played a lot of Tetris,
& I watched "Narnia",
part of "Tristam
Shandy" (I didn't get it), "Transamerica"
(amazing film, I highly recommend it) & part of "Dick
& Jane" (again, bad turbulence so I needed silliness).
Back in the USA, back home to two cats who were REALLY glad to see
us. We had a blast & have vowed to get back there as SOON as
humanly possible. We learned a lot about the US, about the UK &
most importantly, that we travel well together. I guess that's what
honeymoons are all about. 3/23/2006 Wow, it's pretty much exactly 24 hours from when I leave the house to go to the UK. VERY exciting...so exciting in fact...both Daniel & I have headcolds. But I have a feeling we'll feel just fine once we realize we have two whole weeks of nothing to do but have fun. Again, we'll give you the full report when we get back. I wanted to make sure to blog about a few things before I left...the main one being...noise cancelling headphones. Holy Moly. Any of you that know how I was about MyPod when I first bought it...I'm just as bad about these. Yeah, they're huge. yeah, they were expensive (though my Coby's aren't NEARLY as pricey as a Sony or Bose model). But hey- I was listening to & hearing music in MyPod in a noisy ass bar (Iggy's) due to them. For anyone who gets as annoyed as I do when you're trying to listen to music & hear nothing but the conversation next to you on the train...do it. Just be careful crossing the street & such. Secondly saw some great bands this week. Highlight is definitely Shade who did a gig in NYC @ Pianos last night as a warm-up for the London jaunt. It's VERY good to have them back. Earlier in the night we caught The Heights UK who are like The Strokes with Eddie Money on vocals. Good stuff...and cheeky Welshmen to boot. The night before we caught IfWhen (think Orbital meets My Bloody Valentine) & Ellika (could be my fave new local band) @ Crash Mansion, which is pretty much my fave venue of the now. Tonight I'm going to see The Figurines (mellow indie) with one of our faves, Pleasure Technicians, who are doing an all-new set with tracks form their upcoming release. VERY exciting. Though Pianos two nights in a row may be a bit much...at least the sound is decent. Guess
that's about it my lovelies. Cheers until we get back...may the
road rise with you. 3/20/2006 Jetlag is a bitch. It takes a good week now for me to feel normal again. And with London right around the corner, I feel overwhelmed yet oddly focused & able to get shit done. On Friday, 3/17, the very first Manhattan Trader Joe's opened in Union Square...so I HAD to go. The line was out the door. So...will shop NEXT time. Great to know anytime I need $2.50 whole wheat pizza dough now I can go get it. The Sopranos premiered & boy is it off to an amazing start. Hell, it BETTER be after that long-ass wait. I have no idea what to make of what's going on with Tony (don't want to spoil it if you haven't seen it). Email me your thoughts. Also, rooting for the hippies in The Amazing Race. It will be hard to miss two weeks of these shows, but it's freaking London, so I'm sure I'll get over it. We're also watching every movie we can stand as long as we're paying for the HBO package. Saw The Ring Two, not as good as the original, but the creepy quotient is right up there. I also watched a super old school Pee-Wee Herman Show I remember my sister showing me when I was very young. It's amazing how much you remember when you're young...I knew almost every word that was gonna come out of his mouth. Why people didn't see his...future...is beyond me. I still love you Pee-Wee!!! Listening
to: Yardbirds,
Lab Partners,
Monkees, Rogers
Sisters, Goldblade,
Jumping
Jack Frost, Thee
Headcoatees, The
Duke Spirit, The
High Violets, Autolux Met with Ulysses Garret of Yahoo Music & John Mastro of Aeronaut Records then hemmoraged some cash at Amoeba. That store is AMAZING!!! I could have spent all day & every cent I had...Went to FREE MONDAY at Spaceland & caught an impressive set from local band The Tender Box & a good set from The Heavenly States as well. Tuesday saw me on a quest for all of the old school punk spots I had read about (& been to with my Sister though I don't remember it) & ate a bunch of tacos. Wednesday I got stuck in the biggest pain-in-the-ass traffic jam on the 710 which routed everyone OFF the freeway & into Compton (good times) on my way to meet with Bella from Thornbird down in tha LBC. Then I finally re-united with long-lost best friend Elizabeth whom I haven't seen in 3 years. She is well & definitely still Elizabeth. Came back on a REALLY bumpy flight, celebrated our friend Mallory's birthday, saw our friend Butterface spin at a newly revamped Vinylholic night & was turned on to an amazing DJ called Betty Boom who will knock your socks off...or sandals once it gets warm enough for them. In case I don't get to blog again before we leave for the UK, I wanted to throw in we're seeing a TON of bands this week as well...we roll like that...we're gonna see Ellika, So L'il, Shade (who will also be out in the UK when we're there so we'll have someone to pal around with), The Heights UK & The Pleasure Technicians who were recently signed to Lovely. Looking forward to the shows & REALLLLLLLLY looking forward to the UK. Plans for the UK include: Jack the Ripper Tour, seeing Shade, visting The 100 Club, Death Disco w/ Alan McGee, Primal Scream at The Astoria (cheeky venue name, no?...thank you Cheryl!!!), going to The Zodiac where shoegaze started in Oxford, finding where The Hacienda used to be in Manchester & even doing a Beatles tour in Liverpool...not to mention chilling with our friends Ben (in London) & Mike (In Manc). I'll give you the full report when we return. Until then...cheers!!! Happy
Birthday Jeff
Raspe, Mallory
Whitelaw, Mase,
Ducky,
Dad, Carl,
Cheryl
Valentine, Liz Healy & Greta
Brinkman!!! 3/2/2006 Leave for Cali again in a few hours, wanted to blog before I went though, this time on the Liberty. Guess we're going young. The team traded off two of our core players, Crystal Robinson & Vickie Johnson (the latter of whom was a part of the Liberty since day one). We're keeping Becky, Shameka, LaKeisha & Catherine Kraayeveld and are bringing in some rookies/2nd year players to fill out the roster. Oh & Elena Baranova has opted NOT to play this year either. I can only hope the Liberty organization know what they're doing. Of COURSE I'm keeping my season tix. Hell, a "building year" may move my seats even closer than the 3 rows from the bench that they're already at...more after CA. Oh & forgot to mention: Daniel's work gave him the entire two weeks off, so London & Manchester, here we come!!! We'll be booking & planning our trip from today on and will be in the UK 3/24-4/7, tentatively. Maybe going to Oxford & Liverpool as well...we'll know more later... Happy
Birthday Uncle Tom & Alan Promisel...and Happy Anniversary to
all ex-Tommy
Boy employees as it's been 4 years now since the company went
under. 2/27/2006 2/20/2006 RIP
Hunter S. Thompson.
It's hard to believe it's been a year now. You're missed you crazy
bastard. 2/14/2006 Happy
Valentine's Day!!! Just started to do some work with the Loveless
Music Group here in NYC. Pretty much devoted to the shoegaze
scene with some great indie bands thrown in. The group is constantly
looking for new venues & event ideas, so it's something new
for us as we haven't really been on that side of the fence yet. 2/6/2006 Wow,
what a weekend. Got to hang out with our friend Susan Greenwood
(aka Susan from California) who now lives in DC & is a teacher
(which is eerily similar to being in Radio Promo). Good to see you
Susan!!! Started working again with the MEANYFest crew. They have a TON of great stuff planned for this year, though I can't way a word about it just now. Stay tuned... BTW,
did anyone see that creepy but kinda cute Puppy
Bowl on Animal Planet? I didn't "get it" & those
cats during the Kitty Half-time Show (which was oddly sponsored
by Bissell...because we all know cats LOVE vacuums...) didn't look
too pleased...but I guess someone loves it as they're selling the
DVD & it's the second one. Oh well...until later! 1/29/2006 Hahahaha!!! If that doesn't say it all, I don't know what does. :) Pretty cool week. Exciting stuff. Embarked on what I think could be one of the biggest things to hit the music biz in a long time. It's like MySpace meets ITunes, only without so many hands in your pockets. It's a digital download site, all told, but with a HUGE twist that those of us in indie/underground-land can make (hopefully) a killing with. If interested, click here. Last
10 bands we listened to here at Notorious: X,
Monkees,
Siouxsie
& the Banshees (Kaleidoscope is an AMAZING record), Tenacious
D, Nuggets,
Agent Orange,
High
Contrast, Marvin
Gaye, Film
School and Nitzer
Ebb. Saw John Waters' "Female Trouble" again this past week. Another case of distance makes the heart grow fonder. I forgot how incredibly poorly acted this movie was...they are practically screaming at each other the whole time & are obviously so fucked up on drugs it doesn't matter. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it for it's sleaze factor. RIP Divine to do tricks on a trampoline then go running through the woods in FULL DRAG...you deserved the Oscar, honey. We also watched both incarnations of the DogTown story, Lords of Dogtown and Dogtown & Z-Boys. GREAT movies. We, of course, preferred the documentary, but that's because we're documentary junkies. If you like skating, surfing & rock & roll, rent them BOTH. What
else...watching a lot of Winter
X Games. It's so cool to see how fast they have grown. Plus,
it's like a warm-up for the Olympics next month. We've also been
watching Little
House on the Prairie. Before you go writing me off, hear
me out. This show is one of the funniest shows on TV. It's probably
not MEANT to be funny, but it is. Watch & you'll see. They're
just SOOOOO "good" all the time. *sigh* I've also started
reading (OK, I'm over halfway through) Eragon,
a book about a boy &his dragon. Total escapism, but if you like
Lord
of the Rings or Harry
Potter, you'll dig it. 1/21/2006 OK,
so not TOO far behind the last blog. What HAVE I been up to? I kinda
wish I knew. All I know is this weather has me thinking I'm in L.A.
this winter, NOT New York. Believe me, I'm
not complaining...but I know the "check is in the mail"... A
new segment of the blog: Beef of the Week. No, not pictures of steak.
Based on the Colbert
Report's "On Notice" & "Dead To Me"
boards, it's about what I'm pissed off about this week. And this
week it happens to be Street
Sweepers. I'm sure you all have them wherever you are. THEY
DO NOTHING. The street will be JUST
as nasty after they fly by...only now some of the trash will
be in the sidewalk instead of the street. I mean, we all know it's
just to increase City revenue (ticketing
cars for parking, ticketing homeowners for trash on their sidewalks),
and it does provide jobs for some folks...but I mean REALLY. If
anyone can justify these, please email me ASAP. In the adventures portion of the blog, we went to L.A. over Thanksgiving including time in Hollywood, The OC, Disneyland & La Quinta/Palm Desert. For Xmas we went to Richmond, VA where, scarily enough, folks still fly the confederate flag on their cars, in kiosks in shopping malls...EERIE. Our friend Steve got accepted into the FBI, which is cool. I've never known anyone with a really serious job like that. Back here in NYC, I am proud to announce an In & Out clone on the scene...OK not on THE scene, it's in Flushing, Queens...but if you close your eyes while eating Joe's Best Burger, I dare you to NOT believe it's In & Out. Take the 7 train to the end of the line. You'll be glad you did. We also went out to Merrick on Long Island last weekend for a pilgramage to Trader Joe's. It's like Whole Foods for po folks. We stocked up on a bunch of stuff & heard...note HEARD...there is one going in in Manhattan, off 14th & University. For those of you familiar with the area, across from the Diesel store, catty corner from the SW corner of Union Square...across from Strawberry...and not even a block away from Whole Foods. You know, where that old "As Seen on TV" store used to be. If this is true, let the games begin. If not, Merrick isn't THAT far & I am crazy enough to go an hour out of my way to shop there once a month or so. Not
that we're all caught up, I'm gonna go. It looks like a HUGE storm
is brewing & I don't want lightning to zap this computer &
kill my office. So, until the next time...which will hopefully be
sooner than later, cheers! 1/12/2006 Happy
New Year! Thank goodness my resolution wasn't to blog more or I'd
have already broken it. I have a lot to talk about, only am very
busy (in a good way) so not a ton of time. I hope to blab on more
this weekend. Until then, if you are a band, or even a music enthusiast,
you should DEFINITELY
READ THIS. Cheers! 12/19/2005 I know it's been a LONG while. A LOT to catch you up on, but busy as heck as the Holidays are just around the corner. We're Richmond-bound. More to come when we get back. For now, you should DEFINITELY check this out if you're in a band, know someone in a band, hell...even if you listen to music. It's the honest-to-god-reason why I have disgust for the Record Industry. Ho ho...aren't you a part of it Notorious? No. I'm part of the MUSIC Industry. Read the article, we'll catch up over tea. Days
until CBGB shuts down: 315 11/18/2005 California,
here we come. Going on the annual trek to visit my family for Thanksgiving.
Have a great Holiday, and enjoy this
in the meantime. 11/15/2005 11/13/2005 Well, my left thumb is tweaked. Technical term: ruptured ligament. Apparently in Ecuadorian Soccer they don't have a rule that says when the goalie (aka me) has their hands on the ball, you STOP KICKING THE BALL. I'm glad it's not a fracture. But I will say, you use your thumb a goddamn lot. It's what separates us from monkeys, right? Anyhow, two weeks of immobility & I should be good to go. I also discovered that you bruise a lot easier at 31 than you do at 9. Seriously, you'd think I was in a bar fight or something. It's kinda cool to tell people though: "Yeah, I got hurt playing goalie on a s |