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

moving thru december

Alright, gonna try and get everything covered, get up to date before the Holly-Daze hits….

so much to do in the next couple of weeks, and i just wish i could curl up with the pups and sleep for a while…

November ended with a very good thanksgiving meal at our house with Amy and Ben, and lotsa good food, champagne, vodka, and lying around on the couch watching Metalocalypse.

Then it was off to Vancouver for a very quick weekend trip, to see my parents, do a little shopping, drink them canadian bloody caesars, and take our friends Legion and Elsie to the Metallica show…

first off, alcohol and the new fluevog store……

then out for some great sushi with my mom – and a little driving through the Vancouver Fog…

It was definitely good hanging out with the parents – and it’s always such a strange memory head rush for me going back to that city.  not bad, just – a little overwhe,ming at times. it’s like every street holds a different memory, and not all of them are good.  So it definitely helped to have Shelley there with me… making new and better memories for the future…. like that one time on the floor in the closet? remember?

heh…

anyhows, thanks to good timing and all, our trip coincided with the Vancouver RAWK show, so we took our friends out, and “OMIGAWD” as they say… i cannot believe how much more the canadians rock out compared to the last coupe of shows i saw…  even Shelley was impressed by the crowd, and she’s been to a whole lot more of these shows than i have… i knew it was going to be a good one from the very start – because when the lights dimmed at the first SF and AZ shows, the crowd raised all of their cellphones and waved them around in that concert stadium way… in vancouver it was pretty much the same, but they all used lighters. i mean, these canadians were kickin’ it old skool style. and it just kept getting better…

lighters above, rawk below…

afterwards, we went backstage for a very quick hi hello, and then it was off to get late night pie, and then our fun Metal Night in Canada was over.

So, Hell’s Kitchen, Wazubee, Jericho Beach at MIdnight, Granville Island, Commercial Drive, Main Street, Gastown, And some Cemeteries, and then home to LA on Wenesday morning, and straight to work by 10 AM…

Friday December 5th, and it was off to the Roxy to see Keane… and it was also the day marking 4 years together for Shelley and I, so we celebrated that the next night at the Smokehouse.

and now, a little Keane….

Then it was pretty business as usual, work, band practice, dogs, cookies….

We had our annual Christmas work party on Friday the 12th, which was nice – hanging out at the Jonathan Club drinking free vodka… but the Black Kites had some recording to do over the weekemd, and Shelley was going to be driving to Fresno, taking Carl to that Metallica thing, so we didn’t get drunk, we left early, and fell asleep at a decent time, waking up without hangovers.

Saturday at 10 AM Nicki had picked me up and we were at the studio, ready to record – just a little two-song session, to get some new songs down and see how it was working with a different producer / engineer… and it was great. I think the songs, while still not quite finished, are sounding pretty damn cool… hopefully we’ll have something solid enough to pass around in the next couple of weeks or so…Sunday, more recording, Shelley was back from what sounds like another great show, and then in the evening it was just mellow night with Sushi and episodes of Dexter.

Now, monday. work. tired. Wrists are achey. head is tired.

Coming up, Christmas, Dinners with Friends, San Francisco, some more Metallica, and the beginning or 2009.

metallica, madonna, mayhem

Time flies when you’re, you know, busy doing stuff….

It’s almost the end of November, and I thought I’d get some words and pics up here, now, before this holiday season hits too hard.

October 17th Shelley and I drive up to San Francisco to meet up with Audra and Brennan and hit the Cow Palace for the official Metallica friends & family rehearsal show. On the way, we drive through smoke, then fire on both sides of the highway, then a road full of carrots from an overturned truck.

So after that – it was smooth sailing, right?

Actually -after that, a passing truck threw a pebble from underneath one of it’s tires, which flew up and hit our windshield with enough force to cause a quarter-sized star-shaped crack, which slowly started to spread across the glass as we drove. So Shelley was driving carefully as I was trying to contact some windshield replacement people we could meet up with in SF.

after that, it was pretty smooth… for the most part.

we got to the show, met up with our friends, and then – it was time to rock.

Great show, and for a Metallica concert, pretty darn intimate. We said farewell to A&B, and then went off to meet up with Kirk, and then out into the San Francisco night to drink Champagne at Bubbles, then off to the SF house to crash, before waking up early to meet the windshield replacement people, and drive back home, after a failed attempt to have lunch in Carmel, ’cause everything closes there way too early.

A couple of days later, it’s off to Arizona to see the first official show of the tour – it’s pretty much the same, but a lot bigger… and a whole lot more lasers and fire and crazy people. Rawk… what can i say.

We get up to the stage for a little bit, but for most of the show we watch from above it all – at the light board – which gives us a nice unobstructed view of all the Metal that’s going on below.

We fly back too early on Wednesday morning, slightly hungover after hanging out all night with Mark, Eric, and JB at some strange Arizona middle-of-the-desert mall, eating and drinking and talking… and go straight to work.

thankfully there’s a couple of days of quiet before Halloween hits. We get our wonderful portrait from Natalia on the 28th, which is also my dad’s birthday (Happy Birthday there!) – and hopefully I’ll have an image of the portrait to put up here soon – before Christmas. Really. I think.

So then it’s Halloween, and Shelley and I are Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett – and we feel good, look good, and win a prize at work.

Then, still all dressed up, it’s off to the Halloween Haunt at Karen & RJ’s – which is a blast – thousands of kids coming through, and great people to hang out with….

Then November hits…

November first Shelley and I head over to the Hollywood Forever for the Day of the Dead celebration, wander, looking at graves and altars, taking lots of pictures (which aren’t edited yet – soon, i think…). Then it’s Miceli’s for dinner, and off to the Egyptian to see a screening of “Curse of the Werewolf” – which is Excellent.

A very spooky weekend, which is all we wanted.

November 3rd, Lunch at the Counter with Shelley & Stuart, the 4th – I had my Canadian fingers crossed, Shelley went to vote,  and we witnessed a historic moment in the evolution of the United States of America.

Thursday November 6th – the Black Kites play at the Scene. small crowd, but it’s still a great place to play.

The night after, dinner with Audra & Brennan… and Pie!. They’re heading off to SF soon, so it’ll suck not being able to do our Daichan dinners, but – on the plus side – it means people we can visit in San Francisco.

Saturday November 8th, it’s quick travel time again, Driving to Vegas to meet up with Karen & RJ and have a nice dinner…. and hit the Madonna concert – we got soundboard seats – so it should actually be alright…

And we had a blast. First, it was an old school steak dinner at Hugo’s Cellar in the 4 Queens Casino, and then off to the show….

Then Alcohol, Vegas, Hotel, Sleep, Hangover, Home…. and lie in bed for the rest of the day.

November slides along, band practices, work, and then Friday the 14th we meet up with Carl for a nice sushi dinner (Cafe Sushi) and then we all head to Molly Malone’s to see Paul Freeman play – or i guess it’s just “Freeman”… it was fun, good to hang out with Carl – and Paul’s getting some good songs into his set.

Sunday the 16th the Black Kites do the practice thing, and then head off for some quick photos to be used in an upcoming video – created and designed by Kathryne Layne Paxton. It should be pretty interesting when it’s all done and together…

Wednesday the 19th, Shelley and I have a nice just-the-two-of-us dinner at Lawry’s. I’ve been living in LA for just over three years now, and that’s pretty crazy…

November 21st, and the Black Kites hit Spaceland – playing with some other interesting bands and surrounded by a strangely into-it Silverlake crowd. It was us first, followed by the Human Value, and then Shiloe and the War Tapes were playing as well. Spaceland. It can go either way there, but i think we pulled it off nicely.

Then Saturday night, Shelley and I, along with Peggy and Patrick – were out with the stars – hanging at a bungalow at the Chateau Marmont for Lucy’s birthday party. It was actually quite fun – i felt a little awkward, but a few drinks – and i was dancing alongside everyone else. Go with the flow, y’know, and i ended up with a good story to tell, and Shelley got to talk to Danny DeVito, so – it was definitely a night to remember. maybe that’s just the kind of place it is – only been there twice, but both times were pretty intense.

Then, slightly buzzed, slightly star-struck – it was a late night sushi bite, and then off to home.

Now – it’s now. Thanksgiving Dinner on Thursday with Amy & Ben, and then off to see my parents (and, again, Metallica), and back to work.

Onwards we go…