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.

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.

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.

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…

Montreal Pop, Wiggle Waggle Walk, and a Weezing….

Friday October 3rd and it’s off to Montreal to play the Pop Montreal festival… I have to fly to Chicago, change flights, continue to Montreal, and hopefully have enough time to rest a bit before hitting the Stage at the Saphir at 8 pm. The rest of the band flew in a day earlier, so they’re waiting, exploring, getting a little of that French Canadian flavour. I end up on an early morning flight that gets delayed, so i miss my connecting flight, and end up spending hours in airports, and make it to the hotel around 3 pm, with a club check in time of around 5 pm. Exhausted and hoping for a second (or third – by this time) wind.

All is seemingly going well – we get to the club – the soundman is there – one of the other bands is there (the I Spies) – but it turns out we are all waiting for the “Headlining” band – Crystal Moustache – to arrive, because we are borrowing some of their equipment (i wasn’t about to fly a drumkit with me). We start at 8 pm – the band shows up around 7:30, so we have a real rushed soundcheck and then just start right up – with a broken drumkit, a few technical sound problems on the keyboards, no real monitor sound, and random floor / stage experiments with smoke machines and lights.

The crowd is very not there at this point…. we got a nice little write up in the Montreal Hour, and some good words in the official Pop Montreal description, but i think we were playing a little early and we are – well – unknown – in Canada – so a few more people started arriving by the time we were on our last song – and the I spies got a decent crowd, and the headliners pretty much packed ’em in. I don’t understand those crazy Canadians….

we had a few drinks, got our stuff back to the hotel, and wandered the late night streets looking around and then finding a little late night cafe  / diner for some much needed food – and in the process discovered the wonderful meal that is Poutine….

The next day we pretty much just explored – some touristy sights, some not so much. Old Montreal was kind of like a French reproduction of Vancouver’s Gastown, Some amazing architecture, and all the people seemed very friendly – we stopped in a couple of the Pop Montreal Craft / Record Swap  Fairs, i met my old friend Ralph, we chatted, then off to wander – hit a gallery, ate more food, drank some beer, and later hit a surreal and empty karaoke club.

Then bedtime and early Sunday wake-up to get to the airport and fly straight back to LA – exhausted, and happy to have made it out of LA, even though the show could have been better.

Back in LA – and Diesel is a little better, Shelley having stayed home to nurse and watch the dogs, but Kiku is now a little sick, so it’s to the vet again – and about a week of watching and worrying – but now Kiku is back to her hyper happy little self…

Friday the 10th – it’s Solley’s time again – with Tina this time, and then Saturday Shelley and I get up early to head of to the Wiggle Waggle walk at the Rose Bowl – part of the Punk Rock Rovers – Cosmo with us – and we rock the walk…

Cosmo did great – barely had to carry him at all, and he was a little nervous around all the dogs, but didn’t bark at all, and just seemed a little more shy than usual…. and found a few butts to sniff as well, which seemed to make him happy. You can find more info about this event here:

Wiggle Waggle

Then – home, change, and dinner at Daichan, and to bed early – ’cause we got up even earlier on Sunday to head down to the LaBrea Tarpits to do our volunteer work at the Super Adoption… a weekend overflowing with dogs… but it felt good to be doing good for all them pups….

Shelley and I drove around on our little cart – loading and unloading crates and dogs and merchandise for various vendors and pet groups – from about 7am until 6 pm – when we finally got the last of everyone loaded out – and weary and smelly and exhausted even more – it was dinner at 4’n’20 and then home, some Freaks and Geeks on DVD, and bed crash.

Now it’s wednesday – halfway through October – and we’re heading for halloween.

Last night we went down to the Forum – to see Angels & Airwaves and Weezer play – which was… interesting. I haveta say that seats at the soundboard are definitely a good place to be. sometimes a little special treatment goes a long way.  a long day, long night, and now back to work and getting ready to head up to San Francisco for a little visit with friends and a Pre-Tour Metallica show.

somewhere between hawaii and montreal

Caught briefly in LA for a couple of days, between Hawaii and Montreal. Go Go Gadget JetSetter…

It’s the end of September, and we get one last black kite practice tonite before hitting the Pop Montreal stage on Friday night. A little nervous, but mostly in a good way.

September moved by pretty fast – some good times and some bad bad times. Like the black kites playing a show in Modesto with the Solar Powered People – and the Foreign Resort from Denmark.

We played a nice set at a well attended show, so everything seemed alright, but that was Saturday evening… Sunday morning getting ready to head back, we noticed Alan’s car, broken glass, and that was bad. Guitars and other gear stolen. Luckily they didn’t get everything, but still there was some heavy value, sentimental and financial, attached to what was gone, and it kinda put a big cloud of depression on everyone’s day. For whatever reason – this happens a lot in the modesto area, but nobody bothered to mention that to us, which kinda sucked.

Shelley hadn’t been feeling too well the whole weekend, and then around 2 am on Tuesday morning, it was suddenly really bad, and we went to the emergency room, where we sat and waited until about 6 am or so – when she finally got a little doctor time – we were there until 10 am, and they weren’t sure what exactly was wrong, so we went home, and just let whatever it was slowly get better… luckily it didn’t get worse.

So Shelley stayed home for a couple of days, I bussed to work for a couple of days, and then a few more days… and then Nick Cave.

Nothing like a Nick Cave concert to make a shitty week a whole lot better.

The Hollywood Bowl was packed, but not full, as we got there about halfway through the Spiritualized set. We sat in sound, and waited… and then the Bad Seeds hit the stage, full of thunder and fire and proceeded to just hit everything just right. Nick Cave in his western bad man moustache, Warren Ellis and his scary beard, lights and guitars and rock. The hit most of the new material, throwing in some nice moves and banter along the way, and managing to pull out some songs from Murder Ballads, Your Funeral, My Trial, Henry’s Dream, The Firstborn Is Dead, Tender Prey, Let Love In… so yeah. No complaints here.

Then it was my turn to get sick, and I’m still nursing a little chest cold – nothing like hanging out in Hawaii and coughing constantly…

We had a nice Daichan dinner with Audra and Brennan, did some band practices, did some el pollo loco… and then on the 24^th we took off a little early from work and headed straight for LAX and a pre-flight Bloody Mary.

Restless sleepless airplane flight to the island Oahu, and then it’s 4 days of the Best Blueberry Cream cheese scones ever, sunshine and sunsets… beaches, oceans, rainbows, palm trees, and tuna poke. We even ventured into Costco, where it was huge and empty and wonderful – and a poke bar. Found our Shabu Shabu place, had ramen in Waikiki in a little hole in the wall ramen house, went to Hanauma Bay – where Shelley went snorkeling and I sat and watched, Shark’s cove, same thing, and then – off on a boat – three miles off shore, where Shelley jumped in a cage with three other people and got lowered into the water to watch the Sharks Swarm. I would’ve gone in the water if I hadn’t felt all chest constricted – coughing the entire time. I do love being on a boat so much more than being in the water though. I could boat for days….

We found some interesting little thrift stores, got some great Hawaiian shirts in the goodwill, rummaged thru the salvation army, and then – more scones!

Hit the Pali Lookout, chased a rainbow, argued with the GPS, went to see Kirk and Lani and the kids on Friday night, and then again on Sunday for Angels birthday # 2. perhaps it’ll be another year before we hit the island again, but really, if it was sooner than that, I wouldn’t mind. I’m surprised at how much I enjoy the island life, but yeah – I do. K-POI Rocks. So a short, but full visit.

Then an even more restless and tiring airplane ride home – getting in to LA late Monday afternoon.

Tuesday, a last pre-canada practice, and then now – it’s Wednesday. It’s October. It’s Falling straight into Winter.

We take Diesel in to the vet at 8 am for her to get a little dental work done, and then it’s afternoon, and the vet calls Shelley, saying that the anesthetic triggered something, causing diesel’s heart to slow to almost a stop, and they had to quickly revive her. So everything is all of a sudden a little bit sadder and worry is in the air. The trip to Montreal is still happening, but unfortunately it looks like it’ll just be me, traveling alone and then crashing with the rest of the band when I get there. The show must go on, eh?

Shelley is going to stay at home and monitor little Dee, both of us hoping all will be well, and she will be her fine bratty self…

And now I finish up another day, and get ready for a bus ride home, and hope that the next time I write there will be more of that good, less of that bad, and maybe you won’t have to wait for another month for the next little entry…. and maybe canada will love them black kites…

Maybe.