And a little Musical DecadeDance….

Happy New Year!

 *The Decade Dance: A Personal Top 230.
My Top 23 Albums of each year from 2000 – 2009  
 
 Artist                                 Album 
2000
  
1 Anniversary    Designing For A Nervous Breakdown
2 Placebo     Black Market Music 
3 Modest Mouse    The Moon and Antarctica 
4 Mojave 3     Excuses for Travellers 
5 On      Shifting Skin 
6 PJ Harvey    Stories From The City… 
7 16 horsepower    secret south 
8 Ryan Adams    Heartbreaker 
9 Twilight Singers   Twilight as played by the…
10 Tugboat Annie    The Space Around You 
11 The Cure    Bloodflowers 
12 Radiohead    Kid A 
13 Black Heart Procession   3 
14 Karate     Unsolved 
15 Doves     Lost Souls 
16 At The Drive-In    Relationship Of Command 
17 Morphine    The Night 
18 White Stripes    De Stijl 
19 Queens Of The Stone Age   Rated R 
20 Blood Brothers    This Adultery Is Ripe 
21 The Gunga Din    Glitterati 
22 Radio 4     New Song & Dance 
23 Idlewild    100 Broken Windows 
   
2001 
 
1 Actionslacks    The Scene’s Out Of Sight
2 Carissa’s Weird    You Should Be At Home Here
3 Charlatans UK    Wonderland 
4 Clinic     Walking With Thee 
5 Tindersticks    Can Our Love.. 
6 Fugazi     The Argument 
7 Halou     Wiser 
8 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds  No More Shall We Part 
9 Vendetta Red    White Knuckled Substance
10 The Vue     Find Your Home 
11 Alkaline Trio    From Here to Infirmary 
12 The Busy Signals   Pretend Hits 
13 The Strokes    Is This It 
14 Black Rebel Motorcycle Club  B.R.M.C 
15 The (International) Noise Conspiracy A New Morning, Changing Weather
16 Jimmy Eat World    Bleed American 
17 New Order    Get Ready 
18 Pinback     Blue Screen Life 
19 The Faint    Danse Macabre 
20 Radiohead    Amnesiac 
21 Pete Yorn    Musicforthemorningafter 
22 White Stripes    White Blood Cells 
23 Sunset Valley    Icepond 
   
2002
  
1 Black Heart Procession   Amore Del Tropico 
2 Skeleton Key    Obtanium 
3 The Cooper Temple Clause  See This Through and Leave
4 Division of Laura Lee   Black City 
5 Jets To Brazil    Perfecting Loneliness 
6 Jon Spencer Blues Explosion  Plastic Fang 
7 The Music    The Music 
8 Sushirobo    Drawings and Garbage Sculptures
9 The Walkmen    Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me
                                                 Is Gone 
10 16 Horsepower     Folklore 
11 Fairgrove    Good Luck 
12 Concrete Blonde    Group Therapy 
13 Doves     The Last Broadcast 
14 Flaming Lips    Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
15 J Mascis    Free So Free 
16 Low     Trust 
17 Luna     Romantica 
18 Singapore Sling    The Curse of Singapore Sling
19 Trans Am     TA 
20 Interpol    Turn On The Bright Lights
21 Spoon     Kill The Moonlight 
22 Raveonettes    Whip It On 
23 Primal Scream    Evil Heat 
   
2003
  
1 Actionslacks    Full Upright Position 
2 Black Rebel Motorcycle Club  Take Them On, On Your Own
3 Caesars     39 Minutes Of Bliss 
4 Dandy Warhols    Welcome To The Monkey House
5 David Usher    Hallucinations 
6 The Divorce    There Will Be Blood Tonight
7 Firewater    The Man On The Burning Tightrope
8 The Jealous Sound   Kill Them With Kindness 
9 Longwave    The Strangest Things 
10 New Wet Kojak    This Is The Glamorous 
11 Pretty Girls Make Graves  The New Romance 
12 Year Of The Rabbit   Year Of The Rabbit 
13 The Stratford 4    Love & Distrortion 
14 Low Flying Owls    Elixir Vitae 
15 On     Make Believe 
16 Placebo     Sleeping With Ghosts 
17 Radiohead    Hail To The Thief 
18 Electric Six    Fire 
19 South     With The Tides 
20 Swell      Whenever You’re Ready 
21 Tindersticks    Waiting For The Moon 
22 Tomahawk    Mit Gas 
23 Twilight Singers   Blackberry Belle 
   
2004 
 
1 The Cure    The Cure 
2 Daydream Nation    Bella Vendetta 
3 Eagles Of Death Metal   Peace Love Death Metal 
4 IAMX     Kiss & Swallow 
5 Secret Machines    Now Here Is Nowhere 
6 Pinback     Summer in Abaddon 
7 Pleasure Club    The Fugitive Kind 
8 Robert Roth    Someone, Somewhere… 
9 Woven Hand    Consider The Birds 
10 The Turn-Ons    East 
11 Air     Talkie Walkie 
12 Division Of Laura Lee   Das Not Compute 
13 Dogs Die In Hot Cars   Please Describe Yourself
14 Kasabian    Kasabian 
15 Luna      Rendezvous 
16 McClusky    The Difference Between Me And You
                                                  Is That I’m Not On Fire
17 Blonde Redhead    Misery Is A Butterfly 
18 Stars     Set Yourself On Fire 
19 Skywave     Synthstatic 
20 Tom Waits    Real Gone 
21 The Walkmen    Bows & Arrows 
22 TV On The Radio    Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes
23 The Hindi Guns    The Hindi Guns 
   
2005 
 
1 Greg Dulli    Amber Headlights 
2 Ceremony    Ceremony 
3 ….Trail Of Dead   Worlds Apart 
4 Editors     The Back Room 
5 Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds Philosophy & Underwear 
6 The Kills    No Wow 
7 Louis XIV    The Best Little Secrets Are Kep
8 Vic Chesnutt    Ghetto Bells 
9 Stellastarr    Harmonies For The Haunted
10 Team Sleep    Team Sleep 
11 Bloc Party    Silent Alarm 
12 Queens Of The Stone Age   Lullabies To Paralyze 
13 Kaiser Chiefs    Employment 
14 Franz Ferdinand    You Could Have It So Much Better
15 Depeche Mode    Playing The Angel 
16 Doves     Some Cities 
17 Elbow     Leaders Of The Free World
18 Ladytron    Witching Hour 
19 Garbage     Bleed Like Me 
20 Nine Inch Nails    With Teeth 
21 The Bravery    The Bravery 
22 Ben Lee     Awake Is The New Sleep 
23 Afterhours    Ballads For Little Hyenas 
   
2006
  
1 Placebo     Meds 
2 The Twilight Singers   Powder Burns 
3 The Black Angels   Passover 
4 Silversun Pickups   Carnavas 
5 Nomeansno    All Roads Lead To Ausfahrt
6 Freeheat    Back On The Water 
7 Secret Machines    Ten Silver Drops 
8 Say Hi To Your Mom   Impeccable Blahs 
9 The Rapture    Pieces Of The People We Love
10 White Rose Movement   Kick 
11 Black Heart Procession   The Spell 
12 Sonic Youth    Rather Ripped 
13 Snowden     Anti Anti 
14 Jarvis Cocker    Jarvis 
15 I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness Fear Is On Our Side 
16 Primal Scream    Riot City Blues 
17 French Kicks    Two Thousand 
18 Wolfmother    Wolfmother 
19 Eagles Of Death Metal   Death By Sexy 
20 Devics     Push The Heart 
21 Rainer Maria    Catastrophe Keeps Us Together
22 Peeping Tom    Peeping Tom 
23 Muse                                 Black Holes & Revelations 
   
2007
  
1 Black Rebel Motorcycle Club  Baby 81 
2 David Usher    Strange Birds 
3 Dinosaur Jr    Beyond 
4 Editors     An End Has A Start 
5 Grinderman    Grinderman 
6 The Horrors    Strange House 
7 Ken Andrews    Secrets Of The Lost Satellite
8 Unkle     War Stories 
9 Shellac     Excellent Italian Greyhound
10 Rob Crow    Living Well 
11 Guitar     Dealing With Signal And Noise
12 Kinski     Down Below It’s Chaos 
13 Mick Harvey    Two Of Diamonds 
14 The National    Boxer 
15 A Place To Bury Strangers  A Place To Bury Strangers
16 Michael J. Sheehy   Ghost On The Motorway 
17 Marc Almond    Stardom Road 
18 LCD Soundsystem    Sound Of Silver 
19 Kings Of Leon    Because Of The Times 
20 Jimmy Eat World    Chase this Light 
21 Jeremy Enigk    The Missing Link 
22 Fetchin’ Bones    Dead Band Rockin’ 
23 Dethklok    Dethalbum 
   
2008
  
1 Nick Cave    Dig Lazarus Dig 
2 The Gutter Twins   Saturnalia 
3 Escape Act    Loosely Based On Fiction
4 Firewater    The Golden Hour 
5 Deus     Vantage Point 
6 David Usher    Wake Up and Say Goodbye 
7 The Cure    4:13 Dream 
8 Metallica    Death Magnetic 
9 Bauhaus                                 Go Away White 
10 Barry Adamson    Back To The Cat 
11 Flight Of The Conchords   Flight Of The Conchords 
12 Magnetic Morning   A.M. 
13 Mark Pickerel & His Praying Hands Cody’s Dream 
14 School Of The Seven Bells  Alpinisms 
15 Black Nite Crash   Array 
16 Ladytron    Velocifero 
17 Kings Of Leon    Only By the Night 
18 International Jetsetters  Heart Is Black 
19 French Kicks    Swimming 
20 Elbow     The Seldom Seen kid 
21 Asobi Seksu    Hush 
22 Keane     Perfect Symmetry 
23 The Duke Spirit    Neptune 
   
2009
  
1 Silversun Pickups   Swoon 
2 Heat-Ray    Loveallover 
3 David Freel    Be My Weapon 
4 Dinosaur Jr    Farm 
5 Gliss     Devotion Implosion 
6 Placebo     Battle For The Sun 
7 White Lies    To Lose My Life 
8 The Veils    Sun Gangs 
9 Jeniferever    Spring Tides 
10 Dethklok    Dethalbum II 
11 Dead Weather    Horehound 
12 Sugar Army    The Paralells Against Ourselves
13 Doves     Kingdom Of Rust 
14 Stellastarr    Civilized 
15 A Place To Bury Strangers  Exploding Head 
16 Them Crooked Vultures   Them Crooked Vultures 
17 Phoenix     Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
18 The Moog    Razzmatazz Orfeum 
19 Say Hi     Oohs and Aahs 
20 Mastodon    Crack The Skye 
21 Dangermouse & Sparklehorse  Dark Night Of The Soul 
22 Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds Dracula Boots 
23 Cursive     Mama, I’m Swollen

The end of another DecadeDance

Moving halfway through September and trying to get to right now before right now is next year.

Let’s make it quick….

I’m going to try something different here – and add all the images at the end…

I’m also going to avoid writing about all the nights of sitting around watching 30 Rock, going for the fine dining experience at El Pollo Loco, and making decisions like Ramen with or without egg.

Just the good stuff for you…

Wednesday September 23^rd it’s off to Hawaii for fun, snorkeling, and Angel’s 3^rd Birthday Party. We enjoy the sun and food and weather for a few days, then back to LA.

October 2nd we head out to Vegas for Audra and Brennan’s wedding.

Just, well, fantastic. Great people, great night.

October 10^th we head over to the Marriott hotel, near LAX to see Weezer play a Hot Topic private party. Good times, busted ukuleles, and trampolenes.

13^th, Dinner at Daichan with Paul & Kana

16^th, just the 2 of us… (la la la) …. At the Tam O’Shanter.

21^st, we meet up with Amy and Michael at Blvd. 16 – good conversation and great food.

23^rd – Paul and Kana come by, and we all sit around, playing with dogs.

Then the 24^th, and I head over to Shearin Manor to help Karen and RJ out with the massive Halloween decorating. Melodi and Ray are there as well, so we manage to get a lot done before Shelley picks me up, and then it’s off to the Palladium to see them Weezers again, and then a quick stop by Malo to wish Tomi a happy birthday.

October 30^th,

Shelley and I get all dressed up as Edward Scissorhands and Lydia Deetz, and pull in 50 bucks for our office costume prize.

Legion and Elsie arrive for some Halloween hijinks.

Off to Damon’s, and then to Pasadena for some old town haunt – basement building ghouls and creeps and screams.

October 31 –

The four of his go to Karen and RJ’s and hand out candies to thousands of kids, dance in the graveyard, mingle with zombies, and then after it’s all over go to in-n-out with Paul & Kana.

Nov. 1 – brunch at the 101 diner with Elsie & Legion, hang out at the house, play with them dogs, then they leave back to canadaland.

Nov. 4 – Time for DEVO doing their Freedom Of Choice album – New Waved goodness.

Nov. 8 – Head out to meet Jon & Holly & friends at the Metalocalypse / Venture Bros. Premiere party  – the geeks shall inherit the earth.

Nov. 13^th – time for New York City – arrive a little late and then rush to Nobu to meet up with Tori, some sushi, then off to Otto’s Shrunklen Head for drinks.

14^th – Metallica at Madison Square Gardens. Night one., then to the fancy shmancy after party and meet up with Jamie and Ted,

15^th. Tallica Night 2 – and then home the next morning…

16^th… off to the Silent Film Theatre to see Withnail & I with Jon & Holly, and a few charming words from the Director, and then… burritos.

20^th – off to the Palladium to see Mastadon and Dethklok regin supreme. Live action cartoon death metal, and it’s pretty awesome.

Nov. 21 – Shag opening, hang out with Heather & Adam, and Tina and Nathan, look at the art and arty, then off for Thai food.

Nov. 25^th, off to Vancouver – hang out with the family, see Legion and Elsie, do some shopping, discover JapaDogs, eat sushi at Zen, and a real homecooked American thanksgiving dinner (in Canada where it’s not thanksgiving).

Then back to LA on the 28^th

December hits, and it’s off to Vegas for a little drinking, a little neon, and a little heavy metal.

Dec. 4^th – Vegas – dinner at Delmonico with Karen & RJ, then meet up with Nadia & Aaron for a couple of drinks at Nobu

Dec 5^th – breakfast with Nadia & Aaron at the Hash House, and then for our 5 year anniversary  – celebrating with dinner at Nobu and then Metallica with K, R, N & A.

Back home….

Dec 10, why not, some more metallica – with Jon, and end up hanging with him and members of Dethklok, Slayer, Machinehead, Children of Bodom… and then end up watching the show from the pit. A nice stage side view.

Dec 11^th, the PFM holiday Party – at Rusty’s surf ranch. Aloha style.

Dec 12^th, up to SF, hang out a bit and then end up going to see Metallica at San Jose – last show of the tour – some more stage side action for the ex avoidance factor, then back to LA Sunday morning.

Christmas hits, get out early on the 24^th – dinner with Erin & Anitra at the Valley Inn – then home for champagne and cupcakes and some pyjama tv watching. Just the 2 of us.

Dec. 25^th – off to brunch at the Smokehouse with Amy and Michael, then off to Aunt Karen’s for the Family Xmas Dinner, then back to end the food filled day with some champagne and juk at Tina and Nathan’s

Then we slip quickly through the week and hit New Years…….

And on with the Pictures…….

drivin thru the summer

Ok, got about 2 months to get down here, and it’s time to do it now.

Start out…. July 23rd. Heading to ye olde Comic Con. Get outta work and drive down to San Diego. We hit the Tractor Room for some great food, and then hole up in our little Holiday Inn.

 

 

 

24th ComicCon mad rush – we gots one day and a whole lotta stuff to see. We run into Carl, then Karen, and briefly, sorta like some kind of Comic Book Drive-By, Steven. We meet up with Legion and Elsie, chat briefly with Roman, look at stuffs, take pictures, run around, and then drinks and dinner and drinks with K, L, and E. Then back to LA.

 

          

     

 

Saturday the 25th meet up with L & E, show them some sights – Clifton’s, Hollywood reservoir, In ‘n’ Out Burgers, Sunset – we have dinner at the Rainbow, and coffee at Hustler.

         

    

      

 

The next day a couple more sights – Griffith Park, the Tam O’Shanter, then they head off to Vancouver, and I head off for a haircut.

Thursday July 30th, meet up with Jonathan and his girlfriend for a nice dinner at Kiwamis.

August 6th we continue with our seemingly endless “newsworthy” deaths, as we say good-bye to John Hughes and remember all the wonderful movie memories he left us.

On the 7th, Fluevog’s and a brief vist with Carl.

The 8th hits, and it’s off to Disneyland for the Haunted Mansion Shag event and Cocktail Party, which was a little fun, a lot of waiting, and mostly kind of generally disappointing.

       

   

 

August 9th, we relax, very nice and wonderful California sunny Sunday, sitting outside in the backyard with coffee, champagne, and fruit. A very pleasant valley Sunday.

 

 

August 11th and I hit 39, with a nice dinner, just Shelley and I, at the Tam O’Shanter.

 

The 13th, Stephanie takes out to a joint birthday dinner at McCormick & Schmick.

August 14th, and Shelley hits 39, with a nice dinner, the 2 of us, at the Blue Bayou in Disneyland.

 

The 15th, Dinner at the Valley Inn with Karen & R.J.
A Little jump ahead to August 22nd, I start taking some driving lessons, ‘cause it’s been a long long time, and I’m going to need to do some driving here in little Los Angeles. Then we head off to the Nokia Theatre to see the Cult perform their “Love” album, live, with Tina and Nathan. Pretty cool… last time I saw this band was on the actual “Love” tour in, I think, 1986. Time flies…

   

 

 

After the show a nice late night post-Cult breakfast at the Pacific Dining Car.

August 23rd, Dinner with Nancy and her boyfriend at the Odyssey

August 29th, off to see Patton Oswalt and friends at the Largo… a lotta laughs, which is nice, especially with all the fires burning the hills around us. Can’t go anywhere without seeing huge clouds of smoke, and every morning a new dusting of ash on the car.

 

 

Then we are into September. Driving lessons pass, and now it’s time to start thinking about taking the actual test. Alright… soon…. Really.

September 4th, outta work early.
The 5th, we go to Clifton’s, head over to Josiah’s recording studio to hang out with Paul and Laura, as Paul lays down some groovy guitar, and then off and take some small cemetery shots.

   

    

    

    

 

Labor Day, the 7th, and we have dinner with Amy at 4 ‘n’ 20.

09/09/09 and it’s Disney time again, for another merchandise spectacular, and we can’t handle all the waiting and the lines and the people and the chaos, so we just get our stuff and gooooooooooo…

 

But those haunted mansion shoes are sweet!

Friday, September 11th, and we leave work – hit the airport – and off to Nashville.
Get to Tori’s house where we are staying until Monday, hang out, then crash.

And also, RIP Jim Carroll:

::from “While She’s Gone” by Jim Carroll…

Conscience is no more than the dead speaking to us
It’s hard to find comfort
In this world.

You brought that to me
That’s hard to let go.
Only you and I know only you & I

See

You have always been so far away
You have always
Been right here

 
 

Tennessee, September 12th.
Morning coffee at the Portland Brew, Drive to Memphis –

 

We hit Graceland, the Cemetery, and the wonderful Earnestine and Hazel’s – with it’s Soul Burgers and old haunted ex-brothel upstairs complete with old piano and empty bar… and then I drive the 200 miles back to Nashville.

   

   

   

       

 

   

   

 

Meet up with Tori and Betsy and have drinks at the Red Door Saloon.

   

 

13th, meet up with Tessa, Maurice, and the kids – Benecio and Estella – at the Loveless Café. Biscuits!

 

Hang out with them, head back to their place, have some coffee, and then downtown Nashville to wander, drinks at Past Perfect, then dinner at Bar-B-Cutie with Betsy, back to Past Perfect where Tori joins us, and then drinks, talks, back to the house, and bed.

   

   

 

14th… run some last minute Nashville errands, get our Portland Brew coffee, breakfast at the Pancake Pantry, back to Loveless to get biscuits to go, so we can bring ‘em back to work on Tuesday.

Stop at Third Man Records to pick up a couple of things, then off to the arena to get our updated passes, which takes about 2 hours. We pick up Betsy and head back for some Metallica, Nashville style.

 

Great concert, but at this point – not really surprised.

   

      

The big surprise this night, however, is the special guest appeaance, for 2 songs near the end of the set. On to the stage comes Lemmy (!!!)

  

Together they played “Damage Case” and “Too Late Too Late”, then the band and the entire audience said good-bye to Mister Motorhead, and Metallica finished off their set.

 

After the show we said thanks and farewell to Tori, who was off to the next stop, and then ended up at the Sunset Grill with Betsy, and had a great late night  meal with K. and friends before saying “goodbye and see you soon”.
A definitel interesting and fun experience – learned how to “Gargoyle the Keg” from someone who was in Kid Rock’s band. L. wanted to continue the party at some Nashville strip joint, but we declined ‘cause we felt we should attempt that thing called sleep before leaving in the morning.

We finally make it back to our last night airport motel room with about 45 minutes where we can pretend to lie down and sleep before heading to the airport at 5 am for our flight – Nashville, to Chicago, to Los Angeles, to work, and we are running on empty…
But make it through to 6 pm and head home for dogs and bed and sleep.

Now it’s almost the weekend again, finally, and in a week – off to Hawaii to hang out with K. and family, celebrate Angel’s 3rd birthday, and swim, eat, drink, snorkel, and relax.

like a walk in a scary metal park

Long time no say…. But that’s just because I’ve either been too busy or too lazy. Sometimes I just need to do nothing, y’know?

But here I am, trying to get this little bloggy corner updated before the summer hits too hard…

We’ll pick up way back in May Time. May 9th – it was off to see Keane at the Palladium, where we met up with Carl and rocked out in that mellow Keane kind of way. Actually, there were a couple of moments when Carl and I were rocking out a little harder than we should’ve been, which caused some people to glare at us in a disapproving manner.

Shelley and I also checked out Vicious Dogs, which wasn’t that great, and Cupcake Central, which was.

Sunday, the Mother’s Day, we drove down to Shelley’s aunt’s house for a little visit, and then all of a sudden it was Monday…

Thursday the 14th, and it was off to hang with the Weezers when they did some sort of mobile phone party thing along with that blink band at the Paramount Lot. Crazy crowd, crazy people, but definitely a cool place to hold a party… and there was some free alcohol flowing, and free cupcakes as well. Weezer and cupcakes actually go together quite nice.

May 22nd, and we get out of work early thanks to that Memorial Day thingy, so – off at 3 pm and over to Laurel Tavern for some early burgers and beers with Nathan.

We spend Saturday doing some garage cleaning, and sushi eating, and then on Sunday the 24th it’s off to Orris for a great dinner with Tina and Nathan.

Monday…. No work! We have a nice brunch with Karen & RJ and drop off our photos that will be sold in the Pasadena Animal League (PAL) auction “Artistic License”. We’re thinking that they are pretty nice photos, and we’re hoping they will raise a little $$ for PAL. Then for dinner it’s off for a Japanese meal with Holly & Jon. Much fun.

Thursday May 28th we check out the Coop preview at Corey Helford gallery in Culver City. Look at the little devils and drink the wine.

May 30th, Shelley does some side-job work on Melrose, and I buy some records, and then we head over to Chris’s birthday party at his and Bo’s home. Talk to friends, drink some drinks, eat some eats, play some Wii.

Sunday the 31st a really nice brunch at Figaro with Steven, Tomi, and Ben. A charming little café / restaurant that brought back some nice Paris memories…
And then it was June…

I’ll try and keep this short and sweet. This is why I should update more often. Sheesh….

June 5th – of to La Luz to see the Krys Sapp show with Jon Holly Steven Tomi, and then we all ventured off to gorge on Korean BBQ.

The 6th – a great time at Stuart’s birthday party, talking to some very interesting people, and then off to meet up with Tina and Nathan at New Image Art for Dave Ellis’s show.

June 10th, Shelley and I went to the beautiful Los Angeles theatre to see a screening of Cabaret, with Michael York in attendance, giving a nice and charming introduction to the film.

Friday the 12th, we gather, along with the S & T & J & H crew, for an outdoor drive-in double-bill showing of Suspiria and Phantom of the Paradise. It was brilliant. Beautiful weather, great movies, good friends, sitting in the car, drinking beer, cracking jokes – and between the films there was a little indoor Q&A with Jessica Harper.

Sunday the 14th – brunch with Karen & RJ at Mijare’s

Then finally some down time, hanging at home, going to work, watching the DVD’s…. drinking the lambrusco…

Until the 24th, when Shelley takes off to Hawaii… without me…. For little Enzo’s first birthday. So she’s off hanging with sharks and champagne, and meanwhile, I’m bussing it to work.
Damn – I really do need to learn how to drive….

On the 27th I meet up with RJ and we head off to the Buccaneer to see his friend play in the Defendants, followed by Pat Todd and the Rank Outsiders. That was a fun night. Dive bar, rock ‘n’ roll, and perfectly cheap beer…. Yeah.

The 28th and it’s a nice early dinner with just me and Karen and RJ at the smokehouse and Shelley is back home on the evening of the 29th.

The PAL event took place over the weekend too, the Artistic License auction, and all 6 of our photos sold. Which rocks! So, encouraged by that success – we start planning a photo show – more details on this coming later….

And, finally, July…

July 4th weekend. We get out early on the 2nd, no work on the 3rd, Dinner w/ T&N at Buddha’s Belly, and then on the 4th we head off with K&R to their friend’s BBQ – somewhere in Whittier. We stay for a bit, drink for a bit, and then leaving we decide to not go to someone else’s party and have a good dinner at Roy’s instead. Nothing like spending a 4th of July evening at Roy’s.

Saturday the 11th,
Damon’s with K&R
Sunday the 12th,
SLAYER

Well, first, Shelley and I attend a funeral service for Peggy’s father, condolences and respects.
Then home to rest a bit, and try to shift moods and modes.
Drive down to San Bernardino and the San Manuel Amphitheater, we’ve got our passes and we’re good to go. Rock, Metal, Fire, Slayer, and then we say some good-byes and take off before we get trapped between Slayerlings and Marilyn Mansonites. It was like a walk in the park…
A scary metal park.

July 17th, kind of the opposite of going to Slayer, we go to Disneyland.
After work, drive down, pick up our passes, have some dinner, watch some Nightastic event, avoid the strollers, and then head for home, stopping by Jerry’s to drop something off and then stopping at Donut Man to pick something up.

Sunday July 19th – we pick up Tina and Nathan and head over to Rutt’s Hawaiian Café for dinner, and then dessert at Yougurtland. I wish yogurtland was more like Disneyland, but still, it was pretty good.

Tuesday July 21st, we head over with Peggy to the best buy to hang out with the Sugar Ray boys and their in-store CD Release show. It was kind of cool to be standing in the back room beside a $6000.00 TV screen drinking a corona….

Wednesday July 22 and that’s where we are…. Leaving tomorrow night to head down to Comic-Con – and meet up with Legion and Elsie – and whatever else ends up happening. It might be an interesting weekend. We get back from San Diego on Friday night, so it’s just a short little trip, but we’ll be hanging with L&E until Sunday…

over and….

Out!

Family Anvils and DJ Dogs

Ok – catch up time.

It’s almost Mother’s day, and it’ll be the middle of summer before you know it.

So, let’s skip back with a spring in our step to the pre-Europe days of March 2009.

I had been hinting at some black kites changes, and I hate to say that my paranoid mind was right on the money with that whole little ))there’s still a black kites, ol’ buddy, it’s just gonna happen without you(( thought…

Yup, got word upon my return that singer-dude had decided to keep the black kites going but decided it was best to do it without me, and for whatever reason, couldn’t figure out a way to tell me. I’m not going to get into it here, but I have to say – every time I think about it, I get really angry. Almost hulk-like angry. But I’m taking the high road, and just trying to let it go. It kinda sucks though, but – I’ll move on.

So – March 6^th – my sister arrives in LA for a brief visit. We take her to Daichan, and introduce her to Flight of the Conchords.

Saturday, she heads off to see LACMA with some of her other LA friends, Shelley heads off to Necromance, and I attempt to get some music reviews written. I love writing ‘em, but sometimes it’s just so hard to focus.

That night we head over to Damon’s to have dinner, the three of us, Karen & RJ, and Shelley’s sister.

Fine family fun time.

Sunday – it’s brunch in Malibu at the Beachcombers, my sister relaxes at the house while I get a haircut from Amy, we do the Fred 62 for dinner, and then a brief hi hello to Steven and Tomi at Malo.

Monday morning, my sister leaves, back to canadaland, and it’s back to work for Shelley and I.

Friday the 13^th, Valley Inn with Tina and Nathan, Saturday, Daichan again – with audra & brennan, who are making a short LA visit from San Francisco, and Sunday – we try the nearby Sushi Park, and discover it’s both good and cheap. Hooray, a nearby joint for our sushi-to-go cravings….

St Patrick’s day – I attempt some other music, a little AMP studios jam with the same band I played with in February.

I cannot even tell you how great it was to just play drums.  Unfortunately, it seems as if this has fallen flat, and once again, nobody bothered to tell me –

How hard is it to just say “thanks, but it’s not working out.”

Or “I think we need someone with a different style.”

I mean, it’s not like I signed a contract or anything – it was like two “practices” – and then nothing.

Ok, whatever.

So – The week moves on, and then on Sunday the 22^nd, we get together with Karen and RJ, and Paul and Laura, for a nice little Brunch at the Tam O’Shanter.

Monday the 23^rd, and it’s off to the Scene to see my former band, Black Nite Crash, play. It was great to see Jim again – and the new songs were great, and it felt kind of cool being in the audience as BNC played songs that I helped build. I’ve heard us before, but never while in the audience. Kind of a thrill.

::BNC @ The Scene::

then the 27^th hits, and we are off to London…..

…. And then you read the previous post, and we are back.

April 7^th. Shelley and I are off to the Egyptian to see the premiere of Anvil: The Story of Anvil.

First, Keanu Reeves steps up in front of the audience to “present” the movie, then the Director says a few words, then …  Brilliant film, and after the movie, Anvil appears and plays a few songs, and then a couple more when Scott Ian comes up to join them, as does director Sacha Gervais, who gets behind the kit for a song, and Shelley and I are in the movie theatre, bangin’ our head, goin’ “Metal on Metal!”

Easter hits, we have ourselves a nice dinner, and I give Shelley a little Elizabeth McGrath Easter present which kinda matches the previous little V-Day present.

Then on the 17^th, it’s off to the Academy to see a screening of 8 ½. Very cool seeing that film on the big screen, and a very kind of upscale Hollywood artsy crowd in attendance. So we had to balance that scene out with a late night dinner at Carney’s. Hot Dogs and Hamburgers, hooray.

April 18^th, Record Store Day. So – it’s off to Necromance for Shelley, and off to Amoeba for me, where I pick up a few nice circles of vinyl and leave a little poorer, but happy.

Sunday, we stop in at Porto’s for a nice little brunch, and then It’s hanging out with Tina and Nathan fro dinner at Fab’s on the 21^st.

The 23^rd, we stop by The Pass studios, where a certain rock band is recording, meet up with K. who takes Shelley and I out for dinner down the street.

Sunday the 26^th, it’s Pet Adoption day – the big Best Friends Pet Adoption at Westchester Park. We get there close to 7 am, drive the little cart around, loading and unloading crates and pets and boxes and dog food… lots and lots of dog food… and then leave, exhausted and aching and happily satisfied, by 7 pm.

April 28th, we try out Umami Burger, and man – them burgers are good!

The 30^th, and it’s off to Damon’s – dining for a cause. Proceeds of the meals go towards Project Angel Food, so our steaks and chi-chi’s are even more enjoyable.

May hits, and on Saturday the 2^nd, I get to play DJ at Meltdown Comics for Steven’s “Gag Me With A Toon II” show. Some great art, some great people, and I did my best to throw down the great tunes. Tunes for the toons. It was all pretty much revolving around a demented 80’s theme, so I did a good job, or so I’ve heard.

It’s always fun playing DJ – hopefully I’ll get to do it again, somewhere – sometime –  we’re there from 6:30 until just after 11, and then meet up with Tina and Nathan at Fred 62 for the late night mac ‘n’ cheese balls.

By this point, I’m almost actively searching for new band possibilities, and there are mutterings and whispers, but nothing definite, but after going back and forth, I’ve pretty much realized that I am not yet ready or willing to call it quits. I need the music, and I’m not going to let some idiot convince me that it’s over. So – more on this as it happens, but I’m actually feeling some good positive feelings about some of the possibilities… we’ll see. I just want a band that will make me feel as good as playing with BNC did….

May 7^th, and Mister Black Nite Crash, my friend Jim, is a brand new father. So happy for him, and on that birthday note, we are all up to date.

Future posts will include: Hawaii, Nashville, Jarvis Cocker, Las Vegas, and, of course, more Metallica.

And now, some random pictures of our dogs. Just because.

london, budapest, paris, london.

So there’s more words to fall before the trip, and a few from after, but for right now, we’ll take a little step out of time, like it’s an episode of Lost or something, and hit just that one week where Shelley and I shoved as much as possible into a week long European Vacation. And not a single Chevy Chase sighting…

And all pictures included here were from the phone – there are hundreds (and hundreds) of real camera photos between the shootings of Shelley and I, but those are still in the editing phase… but they will be coming soon to a flickr page near you.

3.27.09
So, here we go… wake up, grab suitcases, off to work on Friday March 27th. Leave a couple of hours early and head straight to LAX for the requisite waitings in lines, airport hassles, and our traditional airport lounge pre-flight bloody mary. It ain’t real ‘till the vodka touches the lips…

Then we’re on the plane, with leg room (thank god!), and a long long flight to London. Shelley’s been there more recently than me, as I haven’t traveled to merry olde England since I did the transcontinental broken hearts cruise about 20 years ago. But I was excited. Excited to be there with Shelley, excited to be traveling again, and excited to see Paris for the first time.

So initially, we were heading over to meet up with my parents in Budapest. Turns out that around the same time period, wouldn’tcha know it, Metallica were going to be playing a few European shows…

We did some timetable schedule updates, contacted K. and crew, and there it was… some nice rock ‘n’ roll added into the equation.

The basic plan of “Budapest with the Feldmars” suddenly transformed into London and Metallica, then Budapest with the Feldmars, then Paris and Metallica, then back to London, with a last minute fine dining hook-up, and then back to L.A. – and we had just 9 days…

Again… here we go:

3.28.09
Heathrow, Underground, hotel. We hit wagamama for lunch. Japanese noodle house big with the English families. Hit Camden Market, pictures and a little shopping at the Black Rose for some gothabilly kid’s clothes, a quick stop to buy me a nice shirt and tie, and some black shoes, as K. had called and said we were going out to a nice dinner the next night and I would need something a little… dressy. Then it’s back to the hotel to get ready and get out to the 02 Arena.

Heavy Metal England.

Then we meet up with K. and friends to have a late meal at some nice but private dining club that I cannot remember the name of, but it was a long and winding drive after midnight in the back of the car. There were 6 of us in the back, and a bottle of champagne.
After the dining we were almost thinking about heading back to the hotel, but we suddenly caught a 5th or 6th wind and Shelley’s enthusiastic little “what’s next?” inspired K. to keep on going. So a couple of phone calls and back and forth and what’s up, and we end up at some Bullet For My Valentine afterparty going on at Bertie’s Bar, a small classy looking establishment connected to the Royal Garden Hotel on Kengsington High Street.
Definitely some moments there. Shelley and I hanging out, getting steadily more and more… tipsy… at this little nice bar that was suddenly overflowing with punks and rockers, from old school (Saxon) to new school (Machine Head). It was a little overwhelming, but it was nice that we knew a couple of people. So we hung out, a little with our new Sword friends, talked, drank, laughed, and were introduced to the art of moustaching… and made it back to the hotel by 5 am.

3.29.09
After waking up (a little late, but thankfully not too hungover, we headed for Portobello Market for coffee, brunch (sausages…), and wandering. Shelley found and purchased a very nice and wonderfully vintage dik-dik (which is also really fun to say… dik-dik) and I sighed sadly in front of the very closed Rough Trade records shop.

Then a little later, off to meet K. again – this time for food, not metal. We ended up having a great and relaxing almost four hour long leisurely meal at Claridge’s. Shelley and I got there a little bit early so we had a couple of very nice drinks in the fumoir. Then, when K. arrived, it was a pick up our drinks and a walk around the corner to our table at Gordon Ramsay’s.

A Little luxury can go a long way.

At the end of our meal, as the three of us were getting ready to start digging into the desserts… a little stinking bishop anyone? Not for me, the chocolate mousse will do… we were joined by T. and R., chatted a little, and then left the by then empty restaurant.
Hotel . sleep . early morning flight to Budapest .

3.30.09
Budapest. The fatherland. We make it to our little hotel, the Hotel Panda, to meet up with my parents. We dropped our bags off and then went straight out to have coffee with Balazs, a friend of my father’s, before going to climb up the nice, big hill, long stone staircase, to the Citadel up above the Danube.

Then an early dinner at some crazy little Hungarian restaurant,

and wandered around, photographing, listening to crazy Hungarian speak, and then some wonderful coffee and dessert at Gerbeaud.

I loved the coffee, and Shelley found her new fave – the Eszterhazy Torta.
We then finally make it back to our hotel, only to find that while it might be nice and cheap, it wasn’t really comfortable at all. The feeling was way more youth hostel and not at all relaxing vacation, so very quickly, a little embarrassingly, and with my dad’s help, we got our bags, got out and ended up at the K&K Opera Hotel. Perfect. Much more what we had in mind, closer to the metro stations, and the city we wanted to see.

3.31.09
wake up and wander. We find a nice little café across the street from Budapest’s Moulin Rouge, manage to order some coffees with very broken English, and then wander a little more before meeting up with my parents again in the courtyard/market are in front of Gerbeaud.

Andrew went off to do some work related stuff, while Mer, Shelley and I headed off to the Kerepesi Cemetery, wandered, took tons of pictures, and came across a crazy little Hungarian squirrel. It’s interesting to note that many of the things we encountered in Budapest can be nicely described by putting the words “Crazy little Hungarian” in front of them.

After the delightful graveyard romp we met up with Andrew and then a little snack and coffee at Muvesz, and then dinner at the Komédias Kávéház.
4.1.09
morningtime – we head out into the cool and grey Budapest daylight. The little pub across the street from the hotel all closed and lonely.

We hit the public transportation and make our way to the Ernst Galeria to look at some poster art, everyone being pretty helpful and friendly.

We find the Hotel Astoria with its fancy and proper décor and excellent coffee, have a little snack, and then a little shopping at Retrock.

Then it’s across town to the Vajdahunyad Castle, which is now the Museum of Hungarian Agriculture.

I know, it looks cool, but doesn’t really sound that exciting. The thing is, inside this castle / museum is the fabulous Hall of Antlers.

So impressive, fantastic, surreal. It was like we were suddenly captured and placed into some dark fairytale scene.
We left, and wandered up the street a little and suddenly we were at Hosok Tere, or “Heroes’ Square”

We made it back to Gerbeaud after that, to meet up with my parents, more coffee, then off to an apartment that was temporarily set up to be part of the Feldmar Institute (http://www.feldmarinstitute.hu/), and a slide show / talk by my mom, translated into Hungarian by Kata.

Afterwards, Shelley and I said goodnight & goodbye and headed for our hotel home. We passed the crazy little Hungarian Moulin rouge, all night lit, managed to do some late night corner store shopping for drinks and snacks, and then bed.

4.2.09
Early morning to Budapest airport, another short flight, and we’re in Paris. We make it through the metro connections, suitcases in tow, to our hotel. The Holiday Inn Paris Republique. With a view of a distant Eiffel Tower.

We drop our stuff off and find a nice nearby café to be our daily coffee stop – the Café Republique.

Then the metro, transfer, underground French life, on to Bercy Arena, and once again, Metallica. K. was busy running around before and after the show, so we managed a brief hi hello, we had a few drinks, chatted a little with B., watched a little guitar hero metallica showcase a la francais, and then, well, metal.

The Parisians rocked, possibly harder than any crowd we had seen so far, with the possible exception of Vancouver. (yay Canada)
Then feeling very very tired, it was back to the hotel and up and out early the next day. Catacomb time.

4.3.09
Off to Les Catacombes Des Paris, which was breathtaking amazing.
We could have spent all day wandering around down there, but we didn’t. some beautiful photos came out of this, and probably a hundred or so underdeveloped ones. There were plenty of annoying tourists who were prattling loudly and ignoring the “no flash” rule, but Shelley and I stuck to our basic lowlight exposure knowledge and felt better about the great pictures we did get.

You would think that we would be all deathed out by this point, but no… it was a little more café coffee, and then off to the Cimetiere Montparnasse. Meandering through the tombstones, stopping by the resting places of Serge Gainsbourg, Baudelaire, Simone de Beauvoir, and others. We had gotten a little lost at one point, looking for Baudelaire, when some strange cemetery dwelling French man starts yelling at us for a distance. We weren’t sure what he wanted at first, but as he was coming closer, it turned out he had spotted us, figured us for the Baudelaire types, and was telling us which way to go to find the grave. Bien! Merci!

Then… it was off to have the perfect Croque Monsieur at Les Deux Magots, coffee, and Notre-Dame.

It was too crowded to make it up to the top of the cathedral, but we did circle the ground floor, inside and outside, and smiled back at all the happy little gargoyles.
We made an attempt to visit Pere Lachaise as well, but ended up getting there just as they were kicking everyone out. Everyone alive, that is. We knew we could still make it there the next day, so all was well.

We did make it over to Rue de Bac to visit Deyrolle, the Paris Taxidermy shop that’s been around for about 170 years. They had been the victims of a bad fire about a year earlier, but the majority of their collection was still thankfully intact. There was a display of photographs of the aftermath of the blaze on display, which were simultaneously haunting, surreal, sad, and beautiful.
I managed to take a picture before noticing the no pictures sign, so apologies, but here it is.

As the day turned to Paris night, we decided to take a walk down through Pigalle, the Parisian red light district, also known as Pig Alley.  A neighbourhood in Montmarte, it was nicknamed Pig Alley during World War II when all the soldiers would flock there for the good times…

It’s the home of the Moulin Rouge, much larger than the Budapest version, and various other places of adult themed entertainment. There was an interesting mix of activity all the way down the street. From sketchy French men to tourists with little kids, to a film crew doing some night shoot.
We wandered down a little side street, trying to capture some more neon glow, and got yelled at by some lingerie-clad lady for taking pictures. Shelley managed to translate it as being something along the lines of “Stop Taking Pictures and just come inside.”
We didn’t, though, and continued on our short risqué neon voyage.

4.4.09

first thing, early morning, café republique wake-up shot. Then straight to the cemetery. Pere Lachaise. It was immense, amazing, layers and layers of tombs and graves. Truly a city of the dead.

We could’ve spent days in there, but instead, trying to be good and conserve time and our camera batteries, we kept it fairly short and sweet.

Getting hungry and craving the Croque, we left the tombs behind and went back to Les Deux Magots. We could eat there every day…

Then a little more meandering photographing along the Seine, then to the metro, the airport, and again, London, for one more night.

We arrive in London, make it to our pre-booked hotel, where we had just stayed earlier in the week, only to be told that the hotel was overbooked and there were no rooms.

Yes, we were mad.

Fortunately, the hotel managed to get us rooms, at what turned out to be a hotel that looked a little nicer, right around the corner from where we had dinner reservations, and a ride there with our luggage – at no extra charge. Darn right they did.
So, it all worked out, but it would have been nice if they had let us know a little in advance that we had no rooms… as it was, there was barely enough time to get to the hotel, do a quick change and clean up and look nice, and get to Nobu on time.

Ahhh, yes, Nobu London. We had a nice drink at the downstairs bar, then were seated upstairs. Thanks to some quick connections and phoned in reservations, Shelley had managed to score us a nice table in a great restaurant. A couple of London Celebrity spottings, and a “Hey, is that The Rock?” along with some very good sushi, and we had another Nobu Notch in our collective belt.

Then it was a little London just before Midnight window shopping, then hotel, sleep, airport, LAX, home, dogs, bed, sleep, dogs, sleep, and back to our regularly scheduled workweek on Tuesday after a day of doing absolutely nothing at all on Monday.

-m

sometimes kites can crash

so it’s been about a month since the last update, and some things have happened, some things haven’t happened.

same as it ever was, eh?

First off, i mentioned some “band drama” last time i wrote about things going on. well, in a quick little nutshell, since it’s been over a month and nothing seems to have been said or unsaid or reconciled or talked about, the black kites – as far as my involvement in the band goes – is over. There was a sudden and unexpected hiatus called, right after we finished recording 2 songs (which are actually quite good), and because of that we had to cancel a couple of shows that we had coming up, and that’s that.

it’s kinda strange. like i said, nothing has been really talked about, and he who called the hiatus has not spoken to me directly since it happened, so all the info i get about this is second hand. i’ve been fired from bands, i’ve quit a few, and i’ve had them just fall apart. i’ve never had it happen like this though, and my paranoid mind keeps whispering things like – ))there’s still a black kites, ol’ buddy, it’s just gonna happen without you(( – but, you know, i’ve learned to not really listen to mister paranoia.

i felt upset, angry, hurt, disrespected, and sad. now – well – honestly – i don’t care. i had a fleeting thought that it was the end of my attempts at being a musician. i’m getting older, and it’s getting harder to start again. i’ve had a good run, played many shows, been on tour, recorded albums, but still – i really wanted to go out with a bang, not this sad little black kite whimper.

so – hell with it. i go again – jumping into the unknowable future. have drums, will travel, yeah? i know i’ve got some good and strong beats with me, and i know i want to be playing on the stage again – so – time will tell, but i think that there will be another.

ok, so that’s out of the way. on with my life.

January 24th. the black kites could have been playing in san diego, but that was cancelled. so – shelley and i had a very nice dinner at Matsuda. Next day, nice little haircuts from Amy, and the great Costco adventure.

January 28th, we could’ve been playing at Echo Curio, but… nope. It’s just work, some meetings, some royalties to distribute, some files to file and folders to create. and then dinner with Tina and Nathan at Damon’s, which is always fun, good, and affordable. It was nice to hang out with the T&N team again. The next night it was off to Gyu-Kaku with Shelley’s mom, finally taking us to our belated birthday dinner.  we had fun, so it was all good.

I struggled with one of those never ending colds for almost 2 weeks, even staying home for a day, but it finally went away, which was very pleasing. it’s so hard to concentrate on anything when your head feels like a wet pillow stuffed with aching sand.

And we’re in february.  on the 6th, we went out with T & N again, and Raul, to Daichan. Then they came over and hung out, and it was good conversation and watching our crazy dogs. we went to 4′n’20 with Amy on Sunday, and then it was back to the work week.

Feb 14th, valentine’s day – i got Shelley a nice little personalized hatched made by Elizabeth McGrath, and she was very pleased about that…

Then it was off to Christine’s Birthday party, saw some friends, played with dogs, ate food, then off home to have our quiet valentine’s night sushi and cuddle up with the pups.

Sunday the 15th, off to brunch with Karen & RJ at the Tam O’Shanter, always good times there, and always good times with them.

Tuesday the 17th, well – i got to play drums again. finally. felt so good, i almost forgot.  more on this as it develops…. but my fingers are crossed and my drumsticks are ready.

February 21st we went to Natalia’s gallery opening – “Hooker Dreamscape” – hung out with Amy and friends, met up with Nicki and Sonia, and holy crap that gallery was packed. It’s so nice that Natalia is getting such great attention, and it was kind of surreal seeing the huge painting of Amy sitting in our bedroom. the detail was fantastic. I don’t have a picture of that here, but i will post the portrait that Natalia did of us and the dogs…

after we left the gallery, Nicki and Sonia joined us for a great dinner at the Galley – we’d never been there before, so we weren’t sure what to expect, but it was pretty good food, and the decor was very cool.

now… it’s wednesday the 25th. Ash wednesday.

we’re heading into March soon, and that means, for now, i’m done.

New Red Alert Reviews

so, there’s some new words about music up, as i’m back on track with some of my musical journalism:
a nice (i think) Einsturzende Neubauten review at the Red Alert…

see also: Supersuckers, Bomb The Bass, Alejandro Escovedo, International Jetsetters.

the ice in boston is pretty

here we are, heading towards the end of january 2009, and already many changes. new president. that’s a big one here. i hope it all goes well.

but to get from the last post to right now, we gotta start last year. december ’08.

the 17th and the 18th – 2 nights of metallica in los angeles.

night one we took karen and rj with us, and it was fun. probably the most unenthusiastic crowd i’ve seen at this slew of metal concerts, but you know – it’s la. the cool kids here make all the jaded seattle hipsters look like overexcited teenagers.

night 2 was a little better, audience participation wise, but still – c’mon los angeles, bring on the rawk! we met up with paul, dave, ted and jenny, chatted a little with kirk, got to admire the new mark ryden guitar up close, and had a few drinks before heading home.

friday the 19^th, and it’s up to san francisco for the weekend to stay with audra and brennan in their nice little new home in alameda. coffee, taxidermy, hanging out with good friends, antiques, used records, waffles, and some metallica, san francisco style. back to la on sunday, back to work on monday, and we are heading into the christmas crush.

dec. 24^th we get out of work early and go have a nice xmas eve dinner at the valley inn with erin and lynn and anitra. steak and alcohol and good conversation. happy night all around.

the 25^th, and we drive down to hang out for the day with shelley’s family. a nice good food dessert filled football watching american holiday and we get home early enough to relax for a while, lazy christmas in pyjamas and hellboy 2 on the tv screen.

26^th and we meet up with amy for a fun dinner at barone’s, the 27^th and 28^th we just pretty much hang out and relax at home, managing to repaint the laundry room a nice shade of monster apple green.

a quiet last week of 2008. shelley cooks some damn fine dinners… which she should definitely do more often in 2009, and then a quiet night cuddling with the dogs on the 31^st. i make some nice bloody caesars to start us off, and then as midnight hits, we have some champagne, and slip off into dreamland… and we wake up into a whole new year.

jan 1 it’s a nice brunch at cha cha cha with paul & laura, and then we finally get around to watching the dark knight… sometimes things just take a while, but damn that movie was good. the 2^nd, we’ve got the day off work so we run some errands, make some new years cards, and then off to the tam o’shanter for steven’s birthday dinner.

a week of work and some little band drama, which i’m not getting into here (at least not yet) – a little tattoo touch up for shelley at paul’s shop, and then friday jan 9^th we meet up with karen and rj at the smoke house for a fantastic and long dinner, drinks, conversation, gifts, good times.

saturday the 10^th we meet up with tina and nathan at the laurel tavern, and run into debbie and grady – and olivia – so that’s a fun little lunch day, and then the holidays are pretty much done – business as usual.

go to daichan with nicki and sonia on the 13^th, always a great dinner there, and then shelley and i gear up for quick weekend travel mode.

friday the 16^th – philadelphia! we fly in, get out of the airport to take the train to our hotel, and… damn it’s cold! bonechilling winter night, and we were expecting cold, but that definitely took us by surprise.

we check in, dress up even warmer – i pretty much ended up wearing everything i had packed – 3 pairs of socks, 2 sweaters, etc… and we managed to take in a little of the city at night, the famous cheesesteaks, and then a hard rock dessert across the street from the hotel.

(that’s a johnny cash guitar up there on the wall, the blue one is iggy pop’s)

we turn the heat on in our room, bundle up, and go to sleep. saturday hits, a little bit warmer in the daytime, but still – cold! we head off to look for food, and find the reading terminal market and have a great little breakfast at the dutch eating place, and just enjoy watching the people, the neon signs, the old amish man selling candy… and then it’s off to the mütter museum, which is a little crowded, but still – fabulous.

a little excerpt from their website:

in 1858, thomas dent mütter, retired professor of surgery at jefferson medical college , presented his personal collection of unique anatomic and pathological materials to the college of physicians of philadelphia. our collection now boasts over 20,000 unforgettable objects. these include fluid-preserved anatomical and pathological specimens; skeletal and dried specimens, medical instruments and apparati; anatomical and pathological models in plaster, wax, papier-mâché, and plastic; memorabilia of famous scientists and physicians; medical illustrations, photographs, prints, and portraits.

yeah – good times!

then a little more philadelphia wandering, coffee, the liberty bell, and then back to the hotel to warm up and relax before heading to the concert. thankfully our timetable was set in a way to completely avoid all the political craziness that was happening right up the street – obama was stopping by on his little train ride to washington, so while we didn’t see any of it, it was kind of cool being there in the same city during it all. then it’s time to rock again, take the train to the stadium, and man – philly is right up there with vancouver in terms of crazy fans. insane! it definitely makes for a better show, i think. we had some drinks, had good seats, wandered around the floor a little, then after the show we met up with some old acquaintances – so we chatted with them and kirk, said goodnight – and off to bed.

sunday the 18^th and we take the amtrak to boston. we had thought about driving, renting a car, but when we heard about the snow warnings, we decided the train would be easier and much less stressful.

good thing too – as the train took us from philadelphia, through the eastern states – passing connecticut, new jersey, new york, and into massachusetts, the snow was coming down outside more and more, and by the time we hit the boston station, it was pretty close to a blizzard. it’s been ages since i’ve been in that much snow, and it wasn’t as cold as philadelphia, but it was a bit of a mess getting around. we took a taxi to food – lunch at the parish… with my favorite massachusetts beer.

then through more snow to our last minute hotel, since staying at jamie and angie’s wasn’t going to be a possibility, and then just sat in our warm room and watched the snow fall outside before heading out to the boston show.

and it’s another great show, meeting some new people, rocking out, and boston is full of life and enthusiasm, even in the snow. drinks, popcorn, and rock. how metal can ya get.

more drinks, hang out a little, and then back to the hotel. monday morning it’s off to the airport, fly to denver, then from there to la – get some lunch (burgers, quick!) – and then cuddle up and lie around with the dogs.

tuesday – back to our regular work schedule, and updates on life as it happens to follow at a later date.

that old end of the year listy thing

ok, so – i haven’t been as involved in the new and hip tunes as i used to be… i’m trying to keep my ear open and all of that, but sometimes it gets a little difficult. i also managed to hear a lot of music that just didn’t quite manage to get me excited. sometimes it kinda bummed me out…. especially all those bands that seemed to just wow all the critics.

some i just do not get at all – i’m sure they have their place, but i guess just not in my ears.

vampire weekend? are you kidding me? i’d rather listen to the talking heads, thanks. tv on the radio? i don’t think they can do better than the desperate youth album. bloc party? they seem to keep going in the wrong direction. portishead? nice, but still – their music is still tied too strongly to 1994 for me to listen to with a more current ear. that’s more my fault than theirs. mgmt? there are definitely a couple of cool songs, but a single does not make an album of the year, and the rest just gets on my nerves.

keep in mind that this is my list, and my opinions, and of course everyone else will most likely disagreee and/or think i am crazy, but i’m just going by the albums i can listen to and enjoy, and have been since they came out.

why 23? i like 23.

(if it was a top 25, i think i would have added mudhoney and louis xiv. i was hoping for a dandy warhol entry, but i just couldn’t get into it…)

most obvious for me and my lists? nick cave.

least obvious? metallica. this has never happened before, and there are definitely good reasons for it happening now, but mostly what i like about it is that it makes me feel like i’m still open to new experiences and sounds. i’m jaded and opinionated, sure, but i’m not stuck in a rut…

so here we go.

marcel’s top 23 of 2008:

23 the melvins – nude with boots

22 the kills – midnight boom

21 deus – vantage point

20 love as laughter – holy

19 I was a cub scout – I want you to know that there is always hope

18 mirror – mirror

17 longwave – secrets are sinister

16 clinic – do it!

15 metallica – death magnetic

14 flight of the conchords – flight of the conchords

13 the cure – 4:13 dream

12 unkle – end titles… stories for film

11 those poor bastards – satan is watching

10 primal scream – beautiful future

9 escape act – loosely based on fiction

8 magnetic morning – a.m.

7 firewater – the golden hour

6 the gutter twins – saturnalia

5 david usher – wake up and say goodbye

4 kings of leon – only by the night

3 barry adamson – back to the cat

2 bauhaus – go away white

1 nick cave – dig lazarus dig