rob ronanea

Pearl Jam misheard lyrics

2007-06-08T11:04:00.000-04:00

Wow, I'm speechless. Hilarious!!

More to come this weekend... recap of memorial day on Fire Island and some other good happenings (concerts, wedding in Rochester, etc).

My oh my, where did May go?

2007-05-25T11:37:00.000-04:00

Alright, time to play catch up.

First things first: I owe a big apology to The National. I bashed a line in a song off the new album (The Boxer, so good!) that I heard as "My mind was racing like a pronoun." Josh backed me up in saying that this line is just absurd and makes no sense. Which is true. Because the actual line is "My mind was racing like a pro now" which makes a bit more sense. Or so they tell me. I guess Tennessee Williams would agree.

So two weeks ago, the kickass band ALO came by our office. Those guys are so much fun. The ultimate California college party music. Nicest guys in the world and consummate performers. They played a bunch of songs from the new album Roses and Clover and we chatted it up for a bit. Made up my mind to go to the show that night at Bowery. Josh and I went to Jeeb for some dinner then to Bowery. Lots of good people there. Got some good advice on Peru from Kartzman's brother. Brett Dennen was awesome and ALO rocked the house down.

Had a very Jersey weekend. Friday the 11th we went to Deanna's old college haunts in New Brunswick. Had a fantastic dinner (mmmm braised thai short ribs) at a nice brew pub. Saturday we went to her Mom's birthday dinner in Perth Amboy--at a divine portuguese place. Lots of fun revelry. Horrrible rain and traffic driving back.

Last week was relatively mellow, Wednesday saw the best meal EVER at Saul's on Smith Street. Literally, the best meal ever. Friday my couch was delivered and we spent the weekend on Fire Island, maxing and relaxing. Not the best weather Friday and Saturday but Sunday was glorious. Jesse took me for $19.50 in gammon, which sucked... but the season just started.

This week I went to a great Dan Bern show at Southpaw and I caught the Biscuits last night at Highline. Leaving for the beach after work. Can't wait!!

If you like electronic music

2007-05-09T15:45:00.000-04:00

then please go here and start downloading.

Wow. What a list! Get your untz on

Amy Winehouse is a trip

2007-05-09T11:19:00.000-04:00

So thanks to Shawn Koonin over at Universal Republic, I checked out Amy Winehouse at the Highline Ballroom last night. Great venue--only two blocks from the A train. Good sound, Beano doing lights, cute bartenders (expensive drinks though), good sight lines (from downstairs, anyway). I dig.

Onto the show... I got there as the opener (Patrick Woolf, I believe) just finished his set. I ran into Erik Dane and met Leda Chang from UMusic. Had a few drinks and waited while the house music (house being both the music from the venue and the genre) was blaring. Finally, around 9:30, her band took the stage. The Dap-Kings. Who knew?? Good stuff. After some band riffing, they introduced her (very much like Cat Power) and Amy Winehouse, hot body and all, took the stage.

She was very sultry--I guess that's the best word to describe her. Hot little thing (after the show, Howie Schnee told me she's Jewish--who knew?), with tight, low-riding jeans, exposed tummy (complete with naked chick tattoo), and wizard of oz dorothy's crop top "shirt" (i don't even know the proper term for it, but she looked GOOD).

She ran through 45 mins of her songs. Good banter--she definitely enjoys her booze and clearly had no concept of time, as she thought it was Cinco de Mayo on the 8th. And then thought Cinco was the night before.

I found this quote today--and it sums her up perfectly: "I’m not a lesbian, though — not before a sambuca anyway." I almost bought the t-shirt that says "I don't want to go to REHAB" on my way out.

Good stuff! But more importantly, MTV needs to revive Celebrity Death Match and pin Amy Winehouse up against Lily Allen. I'd pay to watch it. My money is Amy...

The new L Train and the Arcade Fire

2007-05-08T11:49:00.000-04:00

Last night, Marcie and I went uptown to the United Palace Theatre (my second Monday in a row there...) to see the National and the Arcade Fire. Only took 20 minutes to get up there from 34th st, which was nice. We got in, made fun of the overly kitsch decor (but even more so, we made fun of everyone who kept saying how beautiful the venue is--it's not. The decor doesn't make sense. It's too eclectic, too cheap looking, not authentic and just plain WEIRD. But Rev Ike's quotes were priceless).

But I digress. We got our seats in the balcony for the National who went on promptly at 8. They ran through most of the tracks from their new album "The Boxer" which all sounded great. Thankfully, they decided not to play the song with the horrible refrain "my mind was racing like a pronoun" which still just makes no sense to me.

There is a nice vid of "Secret Meeting." I love the National. They're just so good. His voice is perfect. Their sound filled the theatre very well. The multi-instrumentalist's viola was a great counterpoint to the dual guitar attack. Great set!

Then the Arcade Fire came on stage. Such pomp and circumstance. The crowd was whipped into a frenzy even before the band played a note. And with good reason--they are one of the best bands playing right now. They get it. They write great songs, play them well. Everything, albeit a little preachy, swells up and down so well. The grandeur of it all is what attracts people to it--the songs are big. It's a huge production.

The sound was great (it's not easy to mix that many people playing so many different instruments... like the Olivia Tremor Control's Bowery show a few years ago) but the lights were nothing special. The neon lights and the bible image that kept scrolling were good, but the LD could have done way more with the lights.

The band played all the songs from the new release, Neon Bible and the better songs from Funeral. All the songs sounded great--they really did. Regine's hurdy gurdy was good, as was the hammered dulcimer. The drummer was spot on the whole show. The violinist on the left won my heart with her dancing. And Win Butler was as energized as possible.

The peak of the show definitely came at the end of the set. They played Neighborhood 3 (Power Out) -> Rebellion (Lies) and the transition was pretty awesome. Crazy feedback, cacophony, madness and from that, emerged the beat of Rebellion (Lies). And it was good.

A predictable encore of Neighborhood 1 (Tunnels) and Intervention and that's all she wrote. The energy never let up throughout the 75 minutes they played for. Win and Regine definitely have a fire lit beneath them and it's fun to watch.

The train ride home was a royal pain in the ass. The crowded was full of hipsters (oh, by the way, this was one of the more unattractive crowds I've seen at a concert in a LONG time) who were SO loud and just annoying. The train was PACKED so of course it ran local. Marcie and I had seats, but when a woman with two young kids got on, we offered our seats. And the hipsters didn't make any room for us to stand up. Nice, thanks guy. It was just as bad as the L train during rush hour...

Overall, such a fantastic show. Watch the videos I posted. Enjoy!

The last two weeks of my life

2007-05-08T11:28:00.000-04:00

So it's been a busy few weeks...hence the lack of posts. So let's go back in a quick recap fashion:

Last weekend of April was perfect. The Disco Biscuits performed under the Tractorbeam moniker at the Gramercy show. Tons of friends and good people. Woke up early on Saturday and met Jesse Jarnow at Penn Station and took the familiar train to Bay Shore and hopped the ferry to Fire Island. God damn how I've missed you!!! The beach and island were in great shape, as was his house. We played a lot of backgammon, hung out with Rhonda, listened to tunes, watched baseball, drank some scotch and just relaxed.

Came back Sunday afternoon to find my parents and sister hanging out with my lovely girlfriend at our apartment. Spent the afternoon showing them around the Heights, Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens. We at at Pane e Vino and the food was really yummy. I saw them off to the Queen Mary 2 for their transatlantic cruise on Monday morning.

Monday night, went up to the United Palace Theatre to see Modest Mouse. Rockin' rockin' show. Loud but awesome. Johnny Marr sounded great and Isaac was in fine form. Tuesday I schlepped out to Long Island to see PGroove at Mulcahys. Great venue and the band was awesome. Cold rainy crappy night though... Wednesday night was Sage's bday and we celebrated at Sala. Good stuff!

Friday was my annual Cuatro de Mayo party. Great time as always. Deanna cooked up a storm (her paella tartlettes were the best things ever). The kegs of Six Points craft ales were amazing (Brownstone, Bengali Tiger and Sweet Action). About 75 people up on my roof and the pinata bashing at midnight was fun as always. We ended up at Magnetic Field and then back to my place around 3:30.

Saturday Shimon, Steph, Deanna and me drove to pick up other Steph and went to Tom's for brunch. SO YUMMY. Spent the rest of the day walking around Prospect Park and hanging out. Drove back to my place and rested up for the night.

Went to dinner with Matt from Perpetual Groove and Shimon at a yummy sushi place (where the girls were all dressed like they were clubbing and showing tons of cleavage--good stuff) then went to rock out to PGroove at the Gramercy. Another great performance by the boys. It was great to see Huffer run lights in a big room to show off what he can do. And the sound was immaculate in there also. Such a great room for them.

Sunday we slept in and drove into the city to pick up some stuff from my office and her old bike. Stopped in at the Pop International Gallery in SoHo to see if my Dylan photo was ready (it's not, but we had fun browsing!) and then bought my wine rack at Crate and Barrel. Drove home, put it together, had some wine, ordered in some sushi and had a very relaxing evening. Once the couch comes, our apartment will be complete! I can't wait...

Hipsters are funny

2007-05-03T17:24:00.000-04:00

Watch this video and I'm sure you'll agree. Good stuff...

See you at my Cuatro de Mayo party tomorrow!!!

David Cross bashing String Cheese Incident

2007-05-01T10:32:00.000-04:00

Download this hilarious rant about SCI by one of the best comedians out there. Good stuff!!

Post on this past weekend's events coming soon... last night was Modest Mouse and tonight is PGroove on Long Island.

Blue Turtle Seduction and conquering "Q"

2007-04-25T10:42:00.000-04:00

Monday was a tired day... just run down from the Green Apple festival. But, Jordan Kahn found a way to get me out and about that night--good bluegrass and sushi. I got to his place on 2nd ave to find a very happy band. Blue Turtle Seduction played 225 shows last year. I saw 167 concerts. I leave early when I'm tired and bail when I'm not feeling a show. They played 225 FULL concerts. Had to win over a crowd each time. God bless 'em...

Jordan is a mensch. For many reasons, but Monday night exemplified it. He ordered 4 huge sushi platters from Tatany, a nearby yummy spot on 3rd. He fed the band, had plenty of beer, gave them showers and showed off his view from the 22nd floor. Several band members had never been to NYC before. They were amazed. Jaws open, head constantly shaking while looking out the window.

The band (and I, of course) were SO appreciative of what Jordan had done for his Tahoe buddies. To have that wonderful respite from the rough side of the road is invaluable.

After stuffing our bellies we walked over to Rodeo Bar for Turtle's first NYC gig ever. They rocked the place! Hard-driving bluegrass with what feels like an Irish-punk slant. Great vocals. Solid rhythm section. They make you dance. This band is not to be missed! They're playing again tonight in alphabet city, so check them out at Banjo Jim's if you can.

Last night, Deanna and I took a break from all our house work to treat ourselves to a wonderful French meal. As much as I love my wine, I often neglect French wine for South American or Italian. But a nice Bordeaux is always a great change of pace. We ate at Quercy on Court Street and the meal was TOP NOTCH. Easily in the top 4 of our alphabet game thus far. And just a quick recap:

Alias
*Barrio Chino
Café Loup
Dumont Burger
*Euzkadi
*Freeman's Alley
Grape and Grain
*Holy Basil
Ivo and Lulu
Joya
*Kitchen Club
*Luz
*Max
Nan Son
*Osaka
*Pearl Oyster Bar
*Quercy

(Hah! I decided to star only my favorites, but those meals were all so top notch...)

On to "R" next!

6 concerts in 3 days -or- why I love my life

2007-04-23T14:14:00.000-04:00

So The 2nd Annual Green Apple Music & Arts Festival came and went, and boy oh boy was it a good one. Unfortunately, I only got to see the shows in New York (unlike Josh Baron who jet setted to Chicago and San Fran over the weekend), but it was the best. The biggest thanks goes out to Mother Nature for giving us 70 degrees and SUN. I literally have a small sunburn on my left arm. And I'm actually happy about that.

The weekend started out nice and early on Thursday at the Knit for an acoustic Duo show. Always good to see Marco and Joe and the highlight was forcing Cole to introduce the band (well, the actual highlight was standing on the side of the stage with the band, sticking out tongues out at her while she was doing it). Also got to the spend some QT with John, the guitarist from Raisinhill--good to catch up with him. Fun night.

Friday morning I spent up at Grand Central helping the Relix peeps set up the Green Apple booth. Nothing is better than closing down a street in Manhattan, plopping a stage smack in the middle and having good music played while the sun is shining.

First music of the day was The School of Rock featuring Jon Anderson (of Yes fame). His voice still sounds perfect and the kids are incredible musicians. Sarah, the 13-year-old guitarist seen here absolutely SHREDDED. I'd seen her before take over for Metzger during a Bustle in your Hedgerow and she is just incredible. She played an acoustic for "Roundabout" and nailed the harmonics in the intro. She's the best.

Ran back to the office to do some work, then went back up for Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. She's so awesome. There's just no denying how great her voice is. Fun cover of "Sex Machine" and her standard set with most of the songs from her lats album.

Ran back to the office yet again and finished up work for the day, then went over to Rebel to set up for my show that night, featuring Chuch, Quintus and my boys, Hot Buttered Rum. Had some great people working my booth (Thanks, Larissa and Dana! You ruled) and got to spend time with the Butter boys (and Molly). Highlight for me was introducing the band on stage and their deadication of "Loose Lucy." But the most special moment was talking to Brian's dad. Jake Shimabukuro sat in and MAN can that kid tear it up on the ukelele.

Saturday I was up WAY too early to finish getting stuff out of Deanna's apartment. Had a great brunch with her and then ran up to Grand Central for Zero. That's her with one of the plushies on Vanderbilt Ave. And below is me with a rat. I'm not sure what the subway rat has to do with global warming and the environment, but so it goes.
Zero was a blast... while Kimock doesn't always impress me (frankly, he bores me sometimes), he can switch gears on a dime and blow me away sometimes. And it's always good to hear Donna Jean's voice (er, well, it's fun to hear it, when you choose not to remember "Playin in the Band."

Did some more apartment stuff that afternoon. Had dinner in the village with some friends from Florida and then went to see Phix. I love those guys. They just sound exactly like Phish. And they rule. Great songs--Buried Alive opener, Tube, Slave, Coil, Axilla, Sloth, CTB, and a pretty damn perfect Reba. I'm sad they won't be coming back again... My only question is why the marquee read "PHIX N," as in, we're phixing for our phix?

Sunday saw a trip to Ikea and some other housework. Had Gabe over for dinner--our first dinner party. More to come.

Music Notes:
Off to see Blue Turtle Seduction tonight. Their first gig in NYC ever. Can't wait! See you at the Rodeo Bar at 9.

Green Apple Music & Arts Festival!

2007-04-19T17:25:00.000-04:00

The big weekend is finally here... so check out my schedule for the party:

Thursday - The Duo at the Knitting Factory (late show)
Friday - Grace Potter and Ozomatli at the Earth Day day stage on Vanderbilt Ave
Friday - Quintus and Hot Buttered Rum at Rebel
Saturday - Phix at BB Kings
Sunday - Fat Mama at the Knit

What shows are you hitting? Make sure you swing by the Green Apple table at each venue.

Enjoy! And stay green.

Umph, BP and cohabitation

2007-04-18T11:15:00.000-04:00

Great weekend... Friday started with a bang as Gabe picked me up in his new Jetta and we cruised over to Billygburg. Had a drink and some fried clam strips at Surf Bar then ate at Planet Thai (I hadn't eaten there in years). Hopped the L train back into the city to check out Umphrey's McGee at the Nokia. Great time--awesome backstage room, good people, and Brownstein sitting in for Triple Wide -> In The Kitchen. Then he announced the Umph/Bisco (aka DUMB--worst name ever, sorry guys) show at McCarren Pool on Aug 15--but I'll be in Peru. So it goes.

Left the Nokia and walked two blocks down to BB Kings to see Brothers Past. They sound great with Ilya on drums and Tommy is the man. Always has been, always will be. Got home a lot later than I expected...

Woke up early on Saturday and did some cleaning, then helped Deanna move her stuff in. Thankfully we hired Kevin--the man with the van. He did all the loading and unloading. If you are ever moving, do yourself the favor and hire Kevin's Van Service.

Saturday night we were just too beat to do anything so we ordered in food and relaxed. Sunday saw the monsoon so we ordered in a huge shipment of wine (21 bottles, one bottle of port and a liter of vodka) and set up the new bedroom. I have to say--it's pretty weird when you think about it. I'm keeping my apartment but by switching bedrooms, I've actually moved. Go figure! Most comfortable sheets ever (400 thread count, mmmm)

Now I'm getting geared up for The Green Apple Music & Arts Festival this weekend!

Travel Notes:
Booked my flight for Lollapalooza. Thanks for pushing me, Levy!

And I just found out that Bobby D will be in Peru the same time as Deanna and I! Good stuff...

Music Notes:
Amadou and Mariam's Dimanche a Bamako has been in heavy rotation. And I just got the Dylan SACD box set. Can't wait to spend some time with those remasters...

So it goes...

2007-04-12T10:38:00.000-04:00

RIP Kurt Vonnegut. The world misses you already.

"Music for me is proof of the existence of God."

A sad day for literature and culture.

God Bless You, Mr. Vonnegut.

But on the brighter side of things:

Create Your Own PaloozaHead - Visit Lollapalooza.com

I feel the feeling I forgot -or- Page Against the Machine

2007-04-05T10:22:00.000-04:00

Last night. Gramercy Theatre. Page McConnell. 600 Phish kids. 400 friends. 2 hours of solid music. Perfect night.

Started the evening off with Steph, filling up her ipod then taking a $10 cab ride to 30th and 3rd. Now mind you, I work at 29th and 6th. How in the world could that cost $10? I'm not quite sure, but I wasn't a happy camper. Oh well, such is life on a rainy rush hour evening.

We got to Iron Sushi and had trouble identifying the BBQ sauce they used, but nonetheless ate some good sushi. Tasty yellowtail and eel. My phone was ringing the entire time during dinner--it got me all pumped up; that same giddy feeling I used to get before Phish shows...

Walked to the Gramercy and saw a few friends in line. Said hi to everyone, got my wristband and went inside. Every 10 feet I ran into another friend. People I haven't seen in years like Deutsch, Bill and Susan. Barb was tending bar. It felt like a conglomeration of the last 5 years of my concert-going life. And it felt good.

The music was strong. Solid rhythm section. Pretty impressive guitar work. Jared added great touches (and vocals) with keys and guitar. Page's voice was perfect (and he's looking more and more like Sideshow Bob, which makes me chuckle) and he hit his stride early on in the set. He ran through all the material from his new CD--Maid Marion was definitely a highlight.

The jamming was very democratic. No one seemed to drown anyone else but they pushed each other just enough to keep everyone on their toes. Page's layering was such an important part of Phish--and he brought that same element to the show last night. With some gentle guitar solos swirling above, I really did feel the feeling I forgot.

The band left for the encore break and Page emerged for a solo tune. The place erupted with the opening notes of Strange Design. What had never been my favorite Phish song (a great soundtrack to bathroom trip, if you will) really struck a chord. Just relax, Page is doing fine.

We lingered downstairs for an hour after the show--no one really wanted to leave. We all felt the need to hold on to the moment--it's not like we have summer tour coming up... This is all we really have. Page Against the Machine. Page: 1. The Machine: 0. Looks like I'll be checking out the Irving show this summer.

Thanks to the boys at Legacy for taking care of me. Thanks to Page for taking his sweet time to make this happen. Good stuff!

One Set:
Back In the Basement, Runaway Bride, Maid Marion, Heavy Rotation, Complex Wind, Rules I Don't Know, Close to Home, Beauty of a Broken Heart

Encore:
Strange Design (solo), Everyone But Me

Railroad Earth and living solo

2007-04-03T10:34:00.000-04:00

Quality weekend. In brief--we ate at Max's in alphabet city on Friday night. Check "M" off the list! Amazing meal... yummy prosciutto and the meatloaf was insane. Hard-boiled egg wrapped in ham wrapped in mozzarella cheese wrapped in meatloaf. Now THAT is a meal. Mmmmm...

Saturday I drove to New Jersey (Towaca) for cousin Rachel's triplets' first birthday. Zachary, Matthew and Jacob were as cute and sweet as can be. Good to see my folks and my grandmother. Drove back to the city to meet the crew at Chrissy and Kyle's place for a drink or two then went down to The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza (yep, I just said that) for Railroad Earth. I always forget how amazing they are--just solid musicianship with great songwriting. Todd is the man, but you just can't beat Tim Carbone on the violin.

Tons of good people at the show and one long set hit the spot. We had a nightcap at Common Ground and then crashed. Sunday morning drove out to Livingston, NJ for cousin Lisa and new new hubby Joel's wedding party. More family time with a yummy brunch. Came back into the city that afternoon to find an empty apartment!

Lauren has fully moved out and Deanna will start moving in after her test (this Saturday! Wish her luck...). I cleaned the kitchen spic and span and will work on the extra bedroom later this week. We bought a couch for the new living room--an "L" shaped microfiber comfy full-size sleeper. It's long enough for me to lie across the long part with Deanna lying on the chaise side. Good stuff! Let's just hope they can fit it through my door or window :-)

Allman Brothers and Elephants

2007-03-28T10:51:00.000-04:00

Fun night last night! Started off having dinner at Citrus and then went to the Beacon Theater for the Allman Brothers Band. Great show--Mark Quinones was particularly fired up the whole night, wailing away on the percussion. Warren and Derek were as fantastic as always and Gregg's voice is still pristine.

The first set saw Col. Bruce Hampton and Audley Freed come out for Willie Dixon's "Spoonful" with the Colonel on lead vocals and Audley ripping up some guitar licks. Seeing the Col. on stage always puts a smile to my face. "But just a little spoon of your precious love will satisfy my soul"

The first set ended with "Les Bres in A Minor" (I have a penchant for songs that have time or key signatures in their names--like "The Eleven"). A quick set break gave us a chance to rest our legs and grab a drink. The second set started with some familiar cords so we ran upstairs to see what it was--sure enough, it was Kevin Kinney and Susan Tedeschi sitting in with the Brothers singing Dylan's classic "I Shall Be Released." Check out the video I shot with my new camera :)

Solid second set (though I'm not going to lie--I just don't ever need to hear the Brothers play "Drums" or listen to Oteil scat over his bass. Seems that the entire Beacon loved both, but not me. Just doesn't tickle my fancy, not one bit.) A tight Statesboro Blues brought the energy up and a solid "One Way Out" encore closed the night out. We hightailed it down to 34th street to meet Renee and some of her friends to watch the elephants march to the circus.

Tons of people lining 34th street. We waited for about 45 minutes and then sure enough, roars from the crowd and everyone jumped up to look at the exit from the Queens Midtown Tunnel. Unfortunately, my pics didn't come out all that great (not enough light) (or should I say, not enough skills!) but here are a few. Enjoy!

The Curse of Lono and some damn good food

2007-03-26T10:44:00.000-04:00

Great weekend--probably the best eating I've done in a while (and if you know me, I tend to always eat very well). Started off on Friday with a nap after work and then ran up to Jordan's place (Chez Kahn) to hang out before the Gene Ween show at the Gramercy. Walked down 23rd the 3 blocks to the new venue and had a great time.

The venue is good. It needs some more wall dressings to help absorb the sound and drinks were too expensive. That and the seats in the back are not designed for people taller than 6 feet. Great sight lines (well, it's just a large room with no columns, so good stuff), good downstairs chill area and it wasn't too crowded. Gener was awesome, as always. But damn, his fans need to mellow out--we saw 4 people get carried out for puking or passing out. Ugly.

Left during the encore to run uptown with Jack for Sushi Seki. Best sushi in the city. Hands down. The spicy scallop rolls are simply the best ever. The blended eel on top of avocado is unreal. The red snapper with sea salt is divide. Damn, I love that place. Cabbed it back to Brooklyn and got some sleep.

Saturday I woke up too early and watched the Constant Gardener. Went to the gym and sat on the promenade for a while. Met Rachel for a glass of wine and panini in Cobble Hill and then went into the city for another pre-concert sesh at Jordan's place. Russ and Beth came down from CT. Found out Adam and Carmen are also pregnant!!! So exciting!

Went down to Irving for UMelt and Tea Leaf Green. UMelt packed the place in for their opening set. And they tore it up. Every person was completely into the music--the band nailed a cover of Once in a Lifetime and then closed their set with a strong, upbeat song. People LOVED it. Tea Leaf came on and played their usual high energy fun jam rock. It was a whole lot of fun. Went down to Deanna's and got some sleep.

Sunday morning was spent brunching at Clinton Street Baking Company--far and away the best brunch spot in the city. The food was top notch. Went back to Brooklyn and started reading the massive hardcover Curse of Lono. Deanna got this for me for my bday a few months ago and it's insane. The Taschen edition has full color plates by Steadman, letters between HST and his editors, great side bars and other goodies.

Got a few chapters into it and it's your typical Hunter S writing. Covering the Hawaiian marathon in 1980 with Ralph. Expertly written, as expected. Looking forward to finishing it tonight.

Dined out with Steph in Ft Greene last night at Luz, our "L" restaurant. Fantastic South American fair. Some damn good ceviches and white sangria. Very yummy--highly recommended. On to "M" next...

The Heartless Bastards have won my heart

2007-03-21T17:52:00.000-04:00

So I've been in LOVE with this album "All This Time"

Go out and buy it right now. Seriously--this album will be in my top 5 records of 07. Without a doubt.

Here's a track off their new album. Take a listen. And then imagine it with good studio production. Soooo good.

Do yourself a favor and get this album.

New picture galleries added

2007-03-19T11:29:00.000-04:00

Check out the right side and scroll down to my picture gallery links. I added a bunch of ofoto galleries--Summer Camp, Jammys & Green Apple, High Sierra, South America, Camp Bisco, Southern California, Jam Cruise and Langerado. Enjoy!

Langerado!

2007-03-18T18:00:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the delay this week... it's been a busy one. Just bought our plane tickets to Peru for vacation in August. Yeah, that's right--Peru. Can't wait to see Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley and some Amazon jungle goodness.

So Langerado last weekend was just about as perfect as festivals go. Ideal weather, great music, all the best people (save a few who didn't make the trip down--their loss!), and smiles all around.

The weekend started with an afternoon flight down to Ft Lauderdale. Waited with Moose and Slade until Adam and Cole landed. We hopped in the Relix van with Benjy and Jenny and drove to the sight in Sunrise. Set up the Relix booth and saw some good familiar faces. Went back to the hotel, checked in and got settled, then drove down to Revolution to see Trey. Met Sage and went inside.

The show was eh, as it tends to be these days. Decent "Jibboo", "Tuesday" and "Mr. Completely" but he just doesn't move me like he used to (with Phish). The highlight of the show was Matisyahu passing out on the couch two feet behind me and Ethan. And he went down hard. Went to the airport and picked up Deanna and drove back to the hotel and got some sleep.

Friday morning we got to the festival bright and early. Made a lap to say hi to everyone and saw some tunes. New Monsoon, Tea Leaf Green and the Assembly of Dust were all great morning music. Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings blew us away in the Swamp Tent. That chick knows how to boogie! And she's got soul. The Hold Steady were fun as expected, and Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks rocked my world. Love the female rhythm section. The new songs are badass--Baltimore especially.

Left during Trey to go back to the hotel, clean up and order some room service. Deanna passed out early and I went to Revolution for the Disco Biscuits. Love the outdoor space there but I wish they wouldn't oversell each show so much. Great time had by all. Too bad we left with 30 minutes left in the second set, when they really went into overdrive.

Saturday we started off with Apollo Sunshine, who was just too loud for a weekend morning. Toubab Krewe was amazing, as always--afrobeat is the perfect midday music. The Slip was on point, but the highlight of the afternoon was Fourtet with Steve Reid. Sick beats with perfect fills and breaks. PGrove tore it up in the tent and My Morning Jacket closed out the night in perfect fashion--they're simply the best band on the planet. Hands down. The best.

After we got back to the hotel and cleaned up, we walked to eat some sushi and followed dinner up with several hours of margaritas and trivial pursuit at Flanigans. Now I know what you're thinking--isn't it called Bennigans? Yes, but everything in Florida is just a little off. Go figure. Great night though.

Sunday saw us celebrating Marcus's birthday with a phenominal brunch in Lauderdale by the Sea. All you can eat raw bar and fantastic seafood. The whole crew was there--me and Deanna, Marcus and Meredith, Russ and Beth, JOSH AND ORF (what a great surprise!!), Bobby D, Sarah B and Kelly G. Some of the best people in the world, bar none. We got to the festival in time for some Taj Mahal and Los Lobos. Perfect Sunday festival music.

And I spent a good hour watching college basketball (which we won't talk about, as my Terps lost yesterday, sniff sniff) courtesy of the MLB setup. Toots and the Maytals were great and Cat Power just rocks my world. Explosions in the Sky were incredible. I definitely need to see them again.

Sunday night was dinner at Cheesecake Factory then late night PGroove. Perfect way to the end the festival. Happy birthday, Marcus, Cole and Jared!

Here are my pictures from the weekend.

Here's all of us posing at our name's letter. Enjoy!

I can't wait for spring!

2007-03-05T15:16:00.000-05:00

Great weekend--Friday was dinner at Damien's bar then went up to the Nokia to see Keller Williams. A blast as always--Butthole Surfers' Pepper, Moondance, Shakedown Street, Burning Down the House and some other fun covers.

Saturday morning we woke up early and walked from my apartment to Tom's Diner--traversing Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Gowanus Heights (yeah, I didn't make that up), South Slope, Park Slope and finally Prospect Heights. Had an EPIC meal at Tom's and then went to Josh Baron's new apartment, which is a great spot in PHeights.

We followed that up with a great afternoon in Prospect Park--chilling at the new Audubon Center on the lake, hiking up the hill to the waterfall and strolling through the Great Lawn. Did some shopping at the Atlantic Terminal and went home to rest up before the night.

Met Jack and Ellie for a very yummy dinner at Lamb and Jaffy in Greenpoint and then saw the Dub Nomads, featuring Dave Smith on trombone. They were pretty damn awesome and I will definitely see them next time they're playing.

Music Notes:
The new Wilco album is good. Download a copy of it and enjoy. Very heavy on the Nels influence but there are some gems in there.

Travel Notes:
LANGERADO!!!!!!!! Be there or be super lame. 'Nuff said.

Fear the Turtle!!

2007-03-01T12:54:00.000-05:00

We took down #5 UNC and then we took down #14 Duke last night. We're rolling strong into the ACC tourney and should be getting a solid 5 seed for the NCAA tourney. LET'S GO TERPS!

Dylan and Dr Seuss

2007-02-28T17:25:00.000-05:00

Now this is good stuff. Check out "Dylan Hears a Who" and listen to all the tracks. It's surprisingly good!

New TV and my girlfriend is a genius!

2007-02-26T10:33:00.000-05:00

So after a year of wanting one, I finally bought a high definition TV for my bedroom. Sitting at the foot of my bed at 32" of LCD glory--I lied on my bed for most of the weekend and watched 6 college basketball games--5 in HD and one not--but rest assured, it was worth it to watch my Terps knock off #5 UNC. Fear the turtle!!

On other very important news, Deanna passed the last CPA section exam that she took in early February. She nailed a 75, when the minimum passing score was, you guessed it, a 75. WOOOHOOOO!!!!!! So now she just has the audit section left, which she's already passed convincingly. April 7 baby.

Other highlights of the weekend--Ivo and Lulu's for dinner on Friday was an excellent selection for our "I" restaurant. Amazing boar sausage and rabbit sausage. And the duck confit was fantastic. God bless BYO places!

Jen Safady's birthday party was a blast. Lots of good people there--it was nice to see Gabe upon his return from several weeks in Thailand. Sunday Deanna kicked my ass in the gym and I treated us to some bloodys and beer at the Henry St Ale House (I do love me a good stale house) and then dinner at Joya, a phenomenal Thai place in Cobble Hill--and we're on to "K" next.

And since I'm listening to it on this snowy morning, I leave you with Dylan playing Isis in white face from Rolling Thunder 1975:

DC with my nieces!

2007-02-22T14:20:00.000-05:00

I was lucky enough to spend all of last weekend at my parents' house with my whole family. Both sisters, both nieces, both parents, one aunt and uncle, and one grandmother. Aliza and Dalia just keep getting bigger and talking more--and becoming more and more like actual people. It was nice to have four generations together.

Started off with a great sushi dinner in Jersey with Deanna's parents. Drove down to Rockville that night and went to sleep. Saturday morning we played with my nieces, ran errands, helped out around the house and did some shopping. My parents had all their friends over for a party on Saturday night so I got to catch up with a bunch of good people.

Sunday we drove my sister down to Georgetown for a conference she was speaking at. We walked around the icy neighborhood and had some coffee. Went to my grandmother's place for brunch. Sunday afternoon I watched the Terps win and then Miriam, Deanna and I went to Mongolian BBQ for dinner.

Monday we said goodbye to Aliza and Dalia and drove back to Jersey and trained back to the city. What a great weekend!

Tonight is the Paste party and tomorrow is THE WEEKEND!

...and just because it's funny:

Disco Biscuits spun the wheel in Sayerville

2007-02-16T16:08:00.000-05:00

Last night was a blast. Road tripped with SuperDee, Schwartz and Mitch to Slayerville. Some traffic getting through Staten Island, but it wasn't that bad. What really sucked was the horrendous line to get into the venue. Bottle necking, line cutters, 20 degree weather and incredibly tightly packed quarters--80 minutes of hell. It was the worst... and we missed 2/3rds of the first set.

But, the lovely Jenny (heady Jenny), my old intern, created a fantastic wheel for the ladies to spin to select the next song. It was a blast. Another Relix gal, Liz Rubinstein, landed on Mr. Don, which was a blast. But the highlight for me was "Pygmy Twylyte" with a perfect segue into "Gangster jam". It ruled!!

And tonight we're off to DC.... where hopefully I'll get to post about Austin :)

Happy Valentine's Day! Bisco and DC and Austin

2007-02-15T10:18:00.000-05:00

Hey there! Been a busy week, so I apologize for not updating this 'ol blog. A full write-up of last weekend's awesome trip to Austin will come later (Orf and Elana were spectacular hosts and it was great to hang out with Zander and Ashley).

Last night was V-Day and I spent it with my amazing girlfriend (who earlier in the morning, braved the horrible weather to drop off yummy lactose-free cupcakes at my office). We had a fantastic dinner at Taro Sushi in Brooklyn where I got the omakase. Mmmmm omakase... Dessert was at Room for Dessert, which was also very very tasty.

And tonight I get to see the Disco Biscuits in Slayerville. Spin the wheel, baby!!!!

Best concert venue in NYC

2007-02-07T12:07:00.000-05:00

So last night I went to the Angel Orensanz Foundation to see Patty Griffin play her record release party for ATO Records. The show was fantastic but the venue left me speechless. It is far and away the best place I've seen a concert in NYC (indoors--outdoors would have to go to U2 under the Brooklyn Bridge or Bruce Springsteen in front of the Hayden Planetarium).

Angel's art hangs in the stairwells and lines the third floor and candles hanging all over the place light the floor and balcony. The neo-gothic architecture is just gorgeous. What a fantastic place. Patty's voice filled the sanctuary and her guitar tone was perfect.

The night was capped off with Tom Hamilton's American Babies at the Living Room. This incarnation was Tommy, Joe Russo and Dave Dreiwitz. Good stuff!!! Don't miss the last two shows of their residency--Feb 20 and 27 at the Living Room.

Travel notes:
Deanna and I head off to Austin tomorrow to visit Orf and Elana and Zander and Ashley. Can't wait!

Music notes:
I heard Page McConnell's new album yesterday and have been singing "Maid Marion" in my head ever since. This song would (will?) definitely have been played by Phish. It's awesome. Can't wait to listen to it again.

The Slip on Conan tonight!

2007-02-05T17:45:00.000-05:00

Everyone tune in to Late Night with Conan tonight to see The Slip play!!!!

Don't miss it.

And here's a clip of them playing Even Rats on 12/29/06 in Providence. Enjoy!

Worst superbowl TV production EVER

2007-02-05T09:42:00.000-05:00

Did anyone else notice how HORRIBLE CBS was last night? There were so many CBS house commercials, as CBS couldn't sell the ad space. That was abismal (just drop the price a little and people will buy it--trust me, I know sales). But what really pissed me off was the RAIN on the main CAMERA. Come on now... I've seen a lot of football games in my life and plenty of them have been in the rain. But I've NEVER seen the main camera have rain drops and wet smears on it for an ENTIRE game.

It really defeated the purpose of watching it in hi-def! It's hard to see the crispness and color contrast when 3/4 of the screen is BLURRY. I understand it was raining pretty hard, but you are professionals. Get a bigger umbrella! Wipe off the camera in between shots. But don't give me four quarters of blur. That really grinds my gears (yes, I saw that Family Guy last night).

In the biggest football game of the year, with the most money riding on the telecast (I can't even imagine how much production costs were), CBS dropped the ball. Worse than Grossman did on those two fumbled snaps. I really hope "the media" calls them out because they did the worst job I've seen. The producer and cameramen should be fired...

John Popper Project video for "Lapdance"

2007-02-01T11:15:00.001-05:00

Check it out! you can see me twice--
at :38 on the right side facing the camera and again at around :54 and :55
and you can also see me from behind on the right side of the screen (I'm pretty prominent) at 1:45-6.

Good times!

PGroove and the Freaks Ball

2007-01-29T12:41:00.000-05:00

What a great weekend!!

Friday night was spent eating our "E" meal at Euzkadi, an excellent Basque restaurant in the East Village. Great Txakolina (white wine)... mmmm. Followed dinner up with Brian Pearl's going away party. Best of luck to you in LA!

Saturday was a lazy day. Watched Word Play and have decided to give up the Washington Post's xword puzzles for the New York Times. I think I'm ready. Started the night off at Jon Bahr's place to preparty for the Freaks Ball. Got to Southpaw as doors opened and watched all the freaks filter in one by one. One of those really special/kickass night where you know 3/4 of everyone in the room.

The Dansettes were perfect. I was pretty pumped to see this band, as I missed them last week at Magnetic Field. But they were exactly what I wanted them to be--a classic throwback to 70s funk/soul/groove. The guys all wore matching suits and ties and the three ladies were in the same dress. Amazing voices and a great stage presence. Definitely check them out.

The first set of the Band of Changes pretty much ruled. Metzger, Russo, Dreiwitz and DEANER. What's not to love? They tore through a bunch of songs I didn't know, fronted by Chris Harford. Like I've said before, my favorite band is whoever Russo is drumming for. The energy is always through the roof. I'll see him every time.

Apollo Sunshine was fun, but a little jammier than normal. And it was just too loud, so I found myself hanging in the lounge downstairs watching them on the wall projection. Good times. Bailed early to run into the city and catch the end of a sold out night of PGroove. You know it's a good show when the room is still packed at 1:45 in the morning!

Sunday night we had our "F" dinner at Freemans Alley. EXCELLENT food--probably the best alphabet meal so far. Then went over to the Knit and saw some more PGroove. They just get better and better every time. Don't ever miss these guys :)

And now I'm in Atlanta for Jeff Tweedy tonight. Damn I can't wait!!!!

If you like Bob Dylan (and I do)...

2007-01-24T16:52:00.000-05:00

damn that's pretty funny

Red Hook and Danjaboots

2007-01-24T11:01:00.000-05:00

So this past weekend was pretty mellow... spent most of it relaxing in Brooklyn. Did a major cleaning of my bathroom (my tub has never looked so white--ever) and watched some football. And set up my stereo (yay for new speakers), so I now have kickass sound in my living room.

Saturday afternoon was spent on a double date with Jen and Jeff exploring Red Hook. On the coldest, windiest day of the year, nonetheless. We started out at the Six Points Brewery where we ate a lot of barley and smelled a lot of hops. And drank a lot of *good* beer. From there we walked to the Hope and Anchor Diner, where we ate like kings, despite the awful music and the worst cole slaw ever.

A quick walk to the artist studios on the water gave us frostbite, and the studios were all closed, so we warmed up in Fairway. Which is quite possible the best supermarket in the world (sorry, Stu Leonards). J&J hopped in a cab to be whisked away to the warmth of Manhattan while Deanna and I ventured further into Red Hook in search of Steve's Key Lime Pies. We found them and took the bus back to my place.

We at the Swingle (a 4" key lime pie tart dipped in chocolate, eaten on a popsicle stick) which was truly heaven, then met Jon and Caroline for some sushi at Shinjuku followed by Rotary Downs at Magnetic Field. Cake meets Wilco meets Pavement. Very good stuff!

Monday night rolled around and I found myself at the Knitting Factory Old Office for two fantastic sets of music. Scott Metzger solo set followed by Danjaboots--Scott with Joe Russo on the skins. Scott's solo set was great--he pushed himself to play more complicated finger pickings and rhythms and did some great covers.

But nothing tops a Danjaboots show. The band exists to play songs about three things: drinking, fighting and fucking. They opened with a lively version of Cracker's "It Ain't Gonna Suck Itself (an open letter to Virgin Records)" and ran through their usual songs--Dylan's "The Man In Me", "Flaco Dominguez" (a tribute to Jake, who showed up after that song), crowd-favorite "Go Home Hippie" and closed with Ween's "Piss Up a Rope."

But the real highlight was the new song they premiered. Written that afternoon on a big piece of cardboard, "Fat, Drunk and Lazy" was a huge hit. Lyrics were botched, chords messed up, drum beats absent, but the message was clear--and I think most guys can relate to it--"I may be fat, drunk and lazy, but I still make you come." Pure genius.

Tonight is a Jammuary event at the Slipper Room followed by Dave Smith's band "Who Put the Bad Mouth on Me." And hopefully a dinner interlude at Dumont Burger... mmmmm burger

I'm going back to New York City, I do believe I've had enough

2007-01-17T19:57:00.000-05:00

So I'm finally back home... for more than 4 days. And it feels good. I need this. Last night was the first time I touched my couch since 2006. And it felt good. I watched the first four hours of 24 (woohooo!!! overly-dramatic for the sake of being overly-dramatic and I love every second of it) and relaxed. God I needed that. So now I'm at Tazza, my local inoteca, with Deanna (she's studying for her CPA exam) and I'm eating my favorite sandwich (London Broil and arugula with horseradish mayo on ciabatta bread). Ok, well that's my second favorite sandwich (my first is pastrami and salami on a hero with lettuce, tomato, salt, pepper, mayo and oil mmmm).

So life is relaxing and good. This past weekend was good but not relaxing. I flew out to San Francisco for Beth and Andrew's co-bachelor/bachelorette party. Mandi and I got in around 10:30 on Friday night, rented a car and drove to their place in the Presidio. The party was in full swing, but they waited for us for the champagne toast (too much champers on New Years... no more... ok fine, one more flute). We retired around 1 or 2am to the lovely Hotel del Sol on Lombard by the Marina. The next morning (read: two full days) was spent at a sports bar watching my Terps knock of Clemson, then the first of the two football games. We watched the Eagles game on a 13" bunny-ears TV on a boat in the bay while the sunset (it was too cold to be outside anyway).

Dinner was a grand feast at La Barca, a yummy mexican spot. Excellent food and drink--and raucous we were. Post-dinner festivities were at the nearby karaoke bar, where Adam Haft and Jenna and Dan Lebowitz (ALO) joined in. Winston and I sang "Macho Man"... who knew there were verses to that song? I thought it was just chorus--boy was I wrong.

The next morning (everyone was super hungover) started at 9:30 at Kezar Pub in the Haight. So many hi-def plasmas, so little time... We watched the great Bears/Seahawks game then went to the park for a fun dodgeball romp. My team won, thanks to my handy outfield work (the ball only cleared the infield once--I love my laziness...). Dinner was yummy Italian and the night ended with an alphabet-city-feel bar. Let's hear it for Steve Perry!!

So, basically, I'm back to the norm. Relaxin' in Brooklyn with a nice glass of wine and some yummy food. And my girlfriend. Life is good :)

Come sail away, come sail away, come sail away with me!

2007-01-09T19:22:00.000-05:00

So I'm back from Jam Cruise and trying to catch up on sleep. What an amazing ten days... Let's start off with Florida and New Year's Eve. I flew down on an uneventful flight to Ft. Lauderdale and hopped the tri-rail train up to Mangonia Park where Russ and Beth picked me up. We went back to their place and got settled, then drove to the Crab House at the light house in Jupiter. Epic meal, with about 200 peel-and-eat shrimp consumed.

The first night we were there, a commotion was a-brewin' on the drive home from dinner. There were some cop cars at the bridge to Jupiter Island, and some more in front of Bethy's place. A helicopter ("Look down below!") shining its search beacon all around the beach and the intercoastal, several boats cruising both waterways. At least 20 cop cars on our street. We're all staring intently from the front balcony. Eventually 3 people are pulled out of the bushes, handcuffed and full-cavity-searched in our gazebo. We find out later that night that a boat of 17 Haitians crashing into Blowing Rocks and the Haitians spread through JI looking for a hiding spot. 11 were found, 2 were killed somewhere in the process and the other 4 were never found. Crazy stuff...

Spent the next few days with R&B, Chrissy and Kyle, and Adam and Carmen. Played some tennis, obsessed over a 1000-piece "Lost" puzzle (for which the box cover only depicted a fraction of the final scene), hung in the hot tub and just relaxed. Marcus and Meredith surprised EVERYONE the morning of the 29th showing up at our door. Spent each night sleeping out on the patio, with the loud roar of the Atlantic lulling me to sleep.

New Year's Eve morning was spent with me about to approach Russ with the intent of borrowing him and his car to drive up to Vero Beach, where Deanna was spending NYE without me. I sent her a text asking if she wanted to meet halfway for lunch (knowing full well that she couldn't come down to Jupiter). 10 minutes after I sent that text, I was drinking some coffee on the balcony when Deanna walked through the back door. Are you serious??? She cooked up this scheme with Bethy and the rest of my crew at My Morning Jacket in at Roseland.

So she spent the whole day with me--walking down the beach to Blowing Rocks (where we saw the Haitians' boat!!!), playing tennis, chilling in the hot tub and prepping for the evening's festivities. All 10 of us dined at Pasquale's for an incredible Italian feast (amazing clams casino and chicken with sausage, peppers and mushrooms) and then partied back at Casa di Cornwell well into the morning. Guitar hero, karaoke hero (Deanna was far and away the best!), gift-exchange Left Right Center (which I won), poker, balloon racing and general fun. Great times. Woke the next morning and Deanna drove me to the tri-rail and I rode the rail back South trying to rest up for my next adventure... Jam Cruise.

Stay tuned for my Jam Cruise write-up. But first I have to post all my pictures. Selah!

Jam Cruise!!! And some more Jeff Tweedy

2006-12-28T09:09:00.000-05:00

So I'm about to leave for Jupiter Island, FL for some maxin' and relaxin' before I board Jam Cruise. But before I do that, I wanted to post some Jeff Tweedy solo shows that you should all download. It was three years ago this week that I first had an Tweedy epiphany--after Russ and Beth drove me down to Florida for Phish NYE, we finally arrived in Jupiter and ate at the Lighthouse. Then we got back to the condo and I put on this 1/4/00 Lounge Ax show and it hit the spot in a way that no other music could have done so that night.

So with that in mind, I leave you with the following Tweedy:
Lounge Ax Jan 4 '00

Tribeca PAC Nov 16 '05

Tribeca PAC Nov 17 '05

Lounge Ax Nov 18 '97 d1

Lounge Ax Nov 18 '97 d2

The Vic Jan 8 '03 d1

The Vic Jan 8 '03 d2

In the 11/17 Tribeca show, after the first or second track, you can hear someone tell Jeff "The abyss loves you!" Well, that's me. And I'd like to dedicate that same show to Russ and Beth for their birthdays.

Enjoy! I'm off to Florida and Jam Cruise...

Meet the parents...

2006-12-26T14:48:00.000-05:00

So this past weekend was that big step in any relationship... where you meet the girlfriend's parents. But mine doubled up--I met hers and she met mine. And it couldn't have more perfect. We met her parents in Central Jersey at the train station where they drove us to a wonderful sushi meal where I got to know them. We had a blast! Liz and Irwin are as sweet and warm as can be. I felt very at ease with them and the sushi and wine were just the icing on the cake.

We spent the night at her parents' house and got an early start on Saturday morning to drive down to DC to see my folks. We got there around 1pm (after a quick stop off at Twinbrook Deli, where a thwarted robbery attempt was causing quite a stir). We hung out that afternoon with my parents and my sis. We celebrated the ninth night of Chanukah with my grandmother and had a very yummy latke dinner. We watched one of the best movies of all time, The Court Jester. And sure enough, the Vessel with the Pestle has the pellet with the poison and the Chalace from the Palace has the true that is brew. I mean, Brew that is True.

Sunday morning found us driving down the Mall in downtown DC to scope some musuems. We started off in the Air and Space (Aaron Space) Museum, which fortuitously is housing the 100 best artifacts from the American History Museum. So cool! We watched a decent IMAX, narrated by Tom Hanks (though sometimes it was Morgan Freeman talking, go figure...). We had a fantastic lunch in the Museum of the American Indian and set off for the National Gallery of Art. We drove home in time to watch the Redskins lose (boooo) and had a fantastic Vietnamese dinner. Monday was spent with brunch at my Grandma's place then driving back to Jersey and training back to the city.

Today and tomorrow I'm wrapping things up at the office and I head to FLORIDA on THURSDAY. I CAN'T WAIT!!!!

And then, Jam Cruise. 'Nuff said...

Thanks for stealing my laptop!

2006-12-22T14:02:00.000-05:00

Thanks a lot, jackass. Way to break into my office and steal two laptops and one digital camera. Thanks for choosing my nice new laptop. Thanks for taking all the music I've downloaded or ripped in the last two months. Thanks for stealing all my passwords saved in firefox. Thanks for taking away all the emails I sent and received over the last two months--I really want those back.

Fuck you. But you're dumb. Why didn't you take the power chord, you fool? Why didn't you take the $150 bottle of absinthe on my desk? Why didn't you take my digital camera on my desk (thankfully I keep my camera in a Relix coozie so on first glance it doesn't look like a camera).

I hope someone has a very nice Christmas with my new laptop, but fuck you. I'm pissed.

The Best of 2006

2006-12-21T14:00:00.000-05:00

In no particular order:

Studio Albums:
Cat Power - The Greatest
Built To Spill - You in Reverse
Jason Collett - Idols of Exile
Gomez - How We Operate
The Duo - Play Pause Stop
Bob Dylan - Modern Times
Nina Simone - Remixed and Reimagined
The Slip - Eisenhower
Band of Horses - Everything All the Time
The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers

Archival Releases:
Ulrich Schnauss - Far Away Passing Trains
Tom Waits - Orphans: Bawlers, Brawlers and Bastards
What It Is! - Funky and Rare Grooves 1967-1977
Phish - Colorado '88
Sublime - Everything Under the Sun

Best DVDs:
Jeff Tweedy - Sunken Treasure
My Morning Jacket - Okonosos
Phish - Live in Brooklyn
The Best of the Jammys - Volume 1

Concerts:
Tom Waits - The Tabernacle Theatre, 8/1/06 (listed first because it was the best)
Brain Damaged Eggmen - Jam Cruise 4, 1/10/06
Broken Social Scene - Webster Hall, 1/27/06
Perpetual Groove - The Cave, TreeSound Studios, 3/17/06
Ryan Adams and the Cardinals - Bowery Ballroom, 6/23/06
Surprise Me Mr. Davis - High Sierra Music Festival, late night 6/30/06
Bustle in Your Hedgerow - Rocks Off boat cruise, 8/28/06
Built To Spill - Irving Plaza, 10/4/06
Jim James - Vegoose Music Festival, 10/29/06
A Tribute to Bob Dylan - Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, 11/9/06
The Disco Biscuits - Hammerstein Ballroom, 11/24/06

Festivals:
Jam Cruise 4
Langerado
High Sierra
Camp Bisco
Summer Camp

Birthday cupcakes are the best

2006-12-19T10:29:00.000-05:00

Just wolfed down two cupcakes for my birthday. So I guess you could consider this a birthday tummy ache. But it's so worth it...

This past saturday I was treated to the most wonderful day. A 90-minute massage followed by sauna and hot tub. Then the omakase at Sushi Seki. Holy shit. Best sushi meal EVER. SOOOOO damn good. Words can't even describe how amazing the spicy scallop handroll was. Or the chopped eel blended with seaweed served over avocado. Or the yellowtail with jalapeno sauce. Or the red snapper with sea salt. Or the horse mackarel with scallions. Or the king salmon with honey miso sauce. Best meal EVER. I'm talking top 3, if not top top. Nightcap at Common Ground. I couldn't have been happier.

And today is my birthday. Which started out with the aforementioned cupcakes. And will end with our holiday party blowout. Life is good!

Jeff Tweedy and the world's tallest man

2006-12-15T11:06:00.000-05:00

Screw you, Jeff. What the hell is your impetus for doing a solo tour and NOT coming anywhere NYC? Let's be honest here--I'm very psyched you're doing more solo stuff, as I love it more than anything. Anything. But everyone knows that New York is the center of the universe, so WHY ARE YOU SKIPPING MY HOMETOWN!??

Sigh... I guess I'll be flying down to Atlanta to reprise my Tom Waits trip with Shimon and Rob Turner. And it's a friggin monday night. So it looks like I'll fly in on Monday morning, work out of his office all day, then go see some Tweedy at the Tabernacle. Hopefully I'll get my same pimp seats like I did last time.

On an unrelated note, check out this news story. The world's tallest man saved two dolphins by reaching his abnormall long arms into the dolphins' stomachs to remove plastic that they had swallowed. That's pretty incredible--but I still feel bad for the guy trying to squeeze into an airplane seat.

Why I love the internet

2006-12-13T17:01:00.000-05:00

I just saw this on a Phish message board, and it is quite possibly one of the most intelligent things I've ever read:

"i've been told there is no words that rhyme purple,
however, if a popes actions are considered papal,
then why couldn't a sherpa's actions be sherpal?"

I'm speechless...

The alphabet game is back on!

2006-12-12T13:37:00.000-05:00

So in a past relationship, I came up with a fun idea. We had been eating at the same restaurants over and over again, so I thought it would be fun to try a bunch of new places, but doing so in alphabetical order. A restuarant that neither of us had been to that started with the letter "A" first, then a "B" restuarant and so on. Unfortunately, we broke up around around "K" I believe.

But the game is back on with Deanna. We started it two weekends ago with a wonderful brunch at Alias on Clinton. Last night we continued with Barrio Chino on Broome. Amazing Mexican food--chilean sea bass ceviche, enchiladas de mole (mmmm), fish tacos and some very yummy drinks. Fantastic meal. Here's to looking at "C"!

Ice Luge + Best Friends = Party

2006-12-11T16:25:00.000-05:00

So this past weekend was another epic one. Friday night started out at Blue Ribbon Sushi, thanks to the lovely and sweet Caroline. We had an incredibly epic meal, including japanese horse mackerel and fresh and salt water eel. God I love eel. Followed that with a chilly walk to the Brooklyn Lyceum to see The WoWz. Very mellow and different from what I expected, but fun nonetheless. Cold. But fun. Three Woman Blues is a kickass song... They missed a LOT of harmonies, aka sang off key a bunch, but when they hit their notes, they sounded fantastic. Go figure.

Met up with Senor Casa di Verde at Union Hall for a few drinks then skidadled over to Flushing and Classon for RUBULAD. Always a blast. Got there early and chilled in the cave with Jesse, Deanna and Tony. Stalked a blonde girl. Enjoyed tampon christmas trees. Ate a brownie. Had lots of drinks. Much, much fun. Best party ever.

Saturday we motivated out to my old hood, Prospect Heights, to brunch at Tom's Diner. I forgot how special that place is--from the coffee and cookies they bring you in line to the friendly staff to the amazing food; it really is the best. Went from there up to the Museum of Natural History and saw an imax about cowboys, did the Gold exhibit and saw some animals and dinosaurs. Very fun!!

Quick dinner at D's place and we were off to Common Ground. First ones there. Sculpted some of the ice luge out (it needed some work) and commenced drinking. Lots of goldschlagger shots on the luge (and you know I don't take shots). Even got to sing the birthday song to Josh. Rachel Dratch even made a cameo. I had a blast--it was great to see so many good people in one place. I'm so lucky--my friends are the best people in the world!!!

So all in all, amazing weekend. Looking forward to another one coming up!

Music notes:
In honor of Slack LaLane, I have uploaded my favorite Jeff Tweedy solo show - 3/5/05 at the Vic Theatre in Chicago. Enjoy!

And I've decided to post some Neutral Milk Hotel stuff... below is a video of King of Carrot Flowers parts 2 and 3. And check out this amazing collection of NMH audio and video delights.

How sweet it is!

2006-12-08T10:14:00.000-05:00

So the word Schmoopy is defined as "Having or showing fond feelings or affection; loving and tender. Excessively sentimental. Given to or displaying mawkish affection or amorousness."

A few times this past month I've found myself stopping midsentence, smacking my forehead and proclaiming "wow, that was the schmoopiest thing I've ever said." It's a problem--it's annoying for everyone involved, especially me. And last night was the schmoopiest night of them all. And I loved every second of it.

I went to the gym after work, bought new headphones, ran home and cleaned my room a little (so pen-twirling Meredith could crash there) and picked up some wine. Cabbed it back to the city and arrived at Deanna's place--which smelled amazing, as she was cooking up a storm. Apple turkey meatloaf, with ground pancetta, topped with proscuitto. We're talking walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the 9th of game 7 in the world series. We're talking 64-yard field goal to win the game with 0:01 seconds left.

I contributed a lovely Cote de Rhone and a yummy sauterne for desert. And life was good. But the uber-schmoopy moment came when we were doing the dishes and I put on Jerry Garcia Band's "How Sweet It Is" and we started dancing together. And it was one of the most sweet, precious and lovely moments ever. But thank god no one else was there to see it. Schmoopiest moment ever. But I'm still smiling about it :)

Ryan Adams - does the mediocrity outweigh the genius?

2006-12-07T10:13:00.000-05:00

Last night was Ryan Adams and the Cardinals' third and final show at New York's Town Hall (think "A Mighty Wind"). I went to the latter two and I had a great time. Good friends were there, the venue is beautiful and historic, I had good seats and Ryan Adams is up there in my pantheon--along with Grateful Dead, Phish, Dylan, Tom Waits and Jeff Tweedy. I *love* his music.

From the first time I heard "Oh My Sweet Carolina" in college, I've always been a fan of Ryan. When Cold Roses came out, I became an uber-fan--it was the album I needed him to make (not that I knew it at the time). 8 songs from Cold Roses remain in heavy rotation: Magnolia Mountain, Cold Roses, Easy Plateau, Let It Ride, Cherry Lane, Sweet Illusions, Beautiful Sorta, Life Is Beautiful. That late night Bowery show on 6/23/06 was superbly perfect--every note and every song. Just an amazing show.

But I can do without the mediocrity. I can do without the crowd yelling shit at him. I was surrounded by the utmost douchebaggery last night, it was simply unbelievable--the drunken frat boy who is offended that people aren't up and dancing (we're at Town Hall, for cryin' out loud), who then encourages the girls in front of us (who only showed up for the last 15 minutes of the show) to get up and dance, and one of them sweetly turned around and asked my crew if we minded that she stood up and blocked Jen and Jeff's view completely--to which I said "Yes, I mind"--and she turned around and kept dancing. I can do without idiots yelling "Summer of 69"--it's just not funny.

I can do without the unintelligible banter in between songs (that's right, I'm talking about Ryan). I can do without a ten-minute setbreak when you're only playing for 75 minutes. I can do without you walking off stage 30 minutes before curfew. I can do WITH an encore or two. And I'd get down with more acoustic/harmonica playing (ok, that's just my nitpicky taste).

There were some completely transcendent moments--Nobody Girl, Come Pick Me Up, Oh My Sweet Carolina, Hallelujah, Cherry Lane, Easy Plateau, Firecracker, Stella Blue all rocked my world.

I guess all I'm saying is that it would be a whole lot cooler if he dropped the shtick and just played music. Lose the pigtails and high-heels (or pony tail and 8" platform knee-high boots) and eye makeup and let the music talk for you. Play us more songs--that's what we're there for. Grow a set of balls and don't let the hecklers get to you.

I'm sure it's incredibly hard for you to play shows being sober and I know you're sensitive. But you can't let jackasses in the crowd get under your skin. It's a rock show--people are going to yell out song requests. Ignore them or joke about it (like you did last night--"Oh my god, I don't have a setlist!), but don't end your show early because of it. Seriously dude--you've got to have grow up and be a man about it. I know it sucks, but deal with it. That's what we're paying you to do.

Music Notes:
I'm going to see the WoWz tomorrow night at the Brooklyn Lyceum, hopefully followed by Rubulad. Either way, it will all be preceeded by a fantastic dinner at Blue Ribbon Sushi, courtesy of Caroline Naughton and her very generous nature.

Catching up -or- Why I'm a Lazy Bum

2006-12-04T12:36:00.000-05:00

So my excuse for this weekend is that I've been pretty much incapacitated with the stomach flu. And it sucks. I haven't left my apartment in 3 days... Sigh. But as for the last week+, I have no good excuse as to why I haven't updated my blog at all. So I'll try to catch up from Thanksgiving on.

Had a lovely Turkey Day at the Elson's house--one of the better meals Sandy has cooked over the years. Excellent bagel stuffing and cranberry-ginger sauce. Hated watching Romo and the Cowboys do so well. Sigh... Can't win 'em all. Flew back to NYC early on Friday. Got to an unseasonably-warm Brooklyn late afternoon and relaxed on my couch for a hot minute. Met Gabe in penn station (his birthday!) and hopped the train to the Upper East Side for Jordan Zucker's dinner party. Super swanky, great food, drinks a-flowin', fart machines a-fartin' and people a-laughin'. Much merriment. Everyone in good spirits.

Took a cab down to the Nokia Theatre (where I had only been once before, exaclty one year prior--for the Mediocre Meters). Hung with Russ, Beth, Dina, Jordan, Jesse and Gabe for the end of a hot '76 Orpheum show. Lots of singing and dancing and I even called the set closer (The Music Never Stopped). Caught up with some friends during setbreak and skeedaddled over to HammerTime Ballroom (Thanks, Dee) for the Biscuits. Got there during setbreak and saw everyone. Got to the side box for the whole second set--great Little Shimmy. Then ran down to Deanna's place to see her. What a perfect whirlwind night!

Saturday was a perfect day... slept in, went to an excellent brunch at Alias (which officially kicked off the letter game with Deanna--a restaurant that neither of us has been to, going in alphabetical order). Watched some college football and then went up to Mikey's pre-Biscuits party. Lots of good people there. We all went up to HammerTime together--me and 11 friends. Much thanks go out to the Disco Biscuits, their management and especially their tour manager, Mike Polans (who I've known since his Caveman days). The should couldn't be more perfect.

My whole crew found their way into the top side box. A fun Mulberry's Dream to open the show and everyone was dancing. A long, stretched-out Basis intro mid-eastern jam brought the energy up. The band nailed the composed section and segued very nicely into Spacebird. Which went right back into the Basis ending and Aaron was a happy camper. Nothing gets me off quite like a Basis endind...

And I was sure that would end the set, but then I heard a familiar ping sound. Oh wait, that sounds like Echoes! Where's Russ?? How did they know that covering Echoes well is the way to Russ's heart? Well, they did it perfectly--and during the latter half spacey section, they looped the pings and left the stage with the lights down and full of smoke. The loop lasted all of setbreak as I got to see all my friends (many of them seeing their first biscuit show) and life was good. The band came back during the second set to finish Echoes and Barber (wearing a Tiki Barber jersey) ripped it up. Man can these guys tear up a show!

The rest of the set was filled with peaks and tight jams. MEMPHIS was just what the doctor ordered and Hot Air Balloon seemed to come out of no where. Dribble was well-placed too. All in all, an excellent show. Everyone had a blast and I couldn't have been happier.

I'll finish up in another post... this is one is probably too long already...

TDay is here and it's here to stay (until Friday)

2006-11-22T13:33:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm at my parents' house in Rockville, MD, right now. Already consumed two and a half Twinbrook Deli subs, the best subs in the world. Been working all day. Flight home was relatively easy yesterday--amazing sunset the whole time. Haven't been to Dulles airport in YEARS; always good to see those black-top shuttle buses.

Getting a massage in a few hours, then seeing my Grandmother. Tomorrow is dinner at the Elsons' house and I fly back to NYC on Friday. Dinner at Jordan's place, then DSO for Gabe's birthday then the Biscuits. Saturday is the throwdown with all my friends at the Biscuits show. Can't wait!! Here's to hoping we'll all dance (er, I mean run) like hell!

Happy turkey day! :)

I wish they all could be California girls

2006-11-16T10:45:00.000-05:00

Rather, I wish my life were a permanent vacation (albeit pretty damn close already...) like Marcus and Meredith. So I'm back in NYC now but spent a fantastic weekend with Deanna out in Southern California hanging with my nieces and seeing some friends. Fantastic trip!

Hopped on Delta from JFK and was delayed a few hours, and of course was sitting next to Fatty McGee. But the flight was redeemed when Deanna discovered the interactive trivia game we could play against other passengers. I set the plane record high score and life was good. We landed pretty late, got our rental car and drove to Venice to Bobby D's place. Hung there for a few hours with Laney, Sabrina and Dan Hadl--had a few beers and crashed. Woke up super early the next morning and got on the road driving northwest to Santa Barbara.

A few hours later, we arrived at the Sunrise RV Park in Santa Barbara and met up with Marcus and Meredith. We got the grand tour of their Air Stream and hopped in the Suburban to grab a bite to eat. We stumbled on a fantastic brunch spot called D'Angelo's and ate like kings. A 45-minute drive into the mountains led to a quick stop at Lake Cachuma to enjoy the scenery.

We arrived in Los Olivos and went to the Blackjack Ranch Winery for a wine tasting, which was really yummy. Then to the town for another one. A few bottles were purchased and we were off to Solvang, a very cute little Danish town. Walked around for a while and drove on back to Santa Barbara. Played some Guitar Hero II (Wheeee!!) and went into town to watch the sunset over the water. Had a top notch dinner at Chad's (with an amazing Ahi Martini--which was food, not a drink).

Drove back to LA and checked into our hotel (Park Hyatt in Century City, uber swank) and crashed that night. Woke up with a very lazy Sunday morning--breakfast in bed, crossword puzzle on the balcony, football (why do my Redskins suck so much?!?) and then drove down to Torrance (with a quick stop at In N Out Burger) to hang with my nieces. Dalia didn't really know who I was (but is walking and talking now, and is precious). Aliza was so excited to see me and we celebrated her birhday in style. Dora the Explora stories, Blues Clues stories and plenty of Berenstain Bears books (I bought her the four she was missing).

Took the girls to the beach (the water was warmer than the air) and played there for a while. Went back home, read some more books. Put them to sleep and went to pick up Sarah at the airport. Drove her home and went to Hollywood for a great sushi dinner and then to the Knitting Factory to see The Slip, who were awesome. Went back home and crashed out.

Monday was a lazy day for me. Met Deanna for lunch in between her meetings (and realized how much we hate LA--the strip mall with only 5 restaurants was valley parking ONLY. So annoying). Did some work and hung out. Drove to Malibu for a spectacular dinner at Geoffery's overlooking the water. Very yummy. Crashed hard that night, then drove to the airport on Tuesday morning to fly back home.

And so it goes... perfect weekend.

Quote of the day:
Courtesy of Dan Greenhaus: "I may not have the type of voice you like, but I can sing. You can't take that away from me, 'cause singing is a gift from God, and when people say I can't sing, it's kind of like insulting God." -Fergie

Music notes:
Going to Webster Hall tonight to see Brett Dennen, Easy Star All Stars (performing Radiodread) and Xavier Rudd. Can't wait!

Travel notes:
Off to CT tomorrow night for Russ's 30th birthday. Get to see Bethy's cousin in a Rush cover band, then hopefully RUBULAD afterwards, back in the BK.

The Music of Bob Dylan (is incredible)

2006-11-10T11:56:00.000-05:00

So that Dylan tribute at Lincoln Center was friggin awesome. So damn good. Setlist is below. Highlights for me: Jill Sobule, Ryan Adams, Lee Ranaldo (with Medeski and Smokey Hormel), and THE ROOTS. Holy shit was their interpretation of Masters of War epic.

Setlist:
Bob Mould: If Not For You
Joan Osborne: Make You Feel My Love
Natalie Merchant & Philip Glass: Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
Al Kooper: It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train To Cry
Spottiswood: Times They Are A-Changin'
Sandra B.: Like A Rolling Stone
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: Love Minus Zero/No Limit
Jamie Saft: Ballad of a Thin Man
Lee Ranaldo: Positively 4th Street
Lauren Shira: Don't Think Twice, It's Alright
MMWW: Buckets of Rain
Allen Toussiant: Mama, You Been On My Mind
Jill Sobule: Ring Them Bells
Warren Haynes: I Shall Be Released
Roseanne Cash: License to Kill
Jay Farrar: Going, Going, Gone
Phil Lesh: Thunder on the Mountain
The Roots: Masters of War
Cat Power: House of the Rising Sun
Ryan Adams: Isis > Love Sick > Isis
Patti Smith: Dark Eyes
Ramblin' Jack Elliot: Knockin' On Heaven's Door

Five degrees of separation

2006-11-09T16:55:00.000-05:00

Screw you, six degrees. Sometimes NYC feels like a very tiny town. Sure there are 8 million people here, but let's break that down a bit. I only really hang out in a triangle between Park Slope, Williamsburg and 14th Street. So let's drop the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island (does anyone ever really count Staten Island?) and two-thirds of Manhattan and Brooklyn. So now we're probably talking about, what, 2 million tops? And I'm a creature of habit--I habitually go to concerts at the same 10 venues, I drink at the same 10 bars (let's hear it for Common Ground!), eat at the same 20 restaurants, take the same 4 subway lines, etc. And I'm always with my friends, so why is it ever surprsing when I run into people? I should be surprised when I don't...

Last night Josh and I had a few hours to kill before a James Bond Smirnoff event so we went to grab a bite and a drink at Trailer Park (mmmmm tater tots). When we walked in, who was there but little Jamie Peckler from Rockland County. So we caught up over a PBR (her first) and her friend Alexis, who Josh knows through his friend Jillian. We chatted for a while and then two of Josh's friends showed up, also randomly.

We finally made our exit and walked along 23rd street to grab a cab when a parked van's window rolls down and the guy in the driver seat smacks me. 'Scuse me?? Oh, it's Even from the kickass band Steel Train. So random! Josh and I hopped a cab and turned left on 9th ave only to find Evan driving next to us yelling about how great the new Dr. Dog album is. Classic!

We finally got down to Tenjune on Little West 12th Street (thanks, cabbie, for dropping us off on regular West 12th Street). We went into the swanky Bond/Smirnoff party and consumed a whole lot of Vodka. Scantily clad cocktail waitresses brought us drinks and apps. Three DJs spun for 15 minutes each and ended their set with their remix of the Bond theme song (all of which were pretty badass). The middle of the three was far and away the best (he won, DJ AM was the judge), scratching and mixing up a storm.

All in all, very fun night. 5 random run ins in under 2 hours at Trailer Park. I'll tell ya--New York is a very small town...

Music Notes:
Off to see this Tribute to Bob Dylan tonight at Lincoln center. Very excited to see Ryan, Phil, Jay, Jill, Warren, MMW, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and many many more.

Travel Notes:
Off to LA tomorrow with the girl. Staying at the Park Hyatt. Saturday we're driving up to Santa Barbara to see Marcus and Meredith and check out a winery or two. And I couldn't be more excited to hang with my nieces all day Sunday!!

A Texas Jewboy and the World's Largest Kaleidoscope

2006-11-07T10:37:00.000-05:00

So on this election day, I beg you all to move to Texas quickly, establish residency there, dig for oil, and vote for Kinky Friedman. How hard could it be? Why the hell not?!? Our country could damn well use more governors who toured with Dylan on his Rolling Thunder Review. I'd like every Texan to be proud to boast "My Governor is a Jewish Cowboy" tomorrow.

This past weekend was spent (shockingly) with Deanna. On Friday night we met up at O'Keefe's to grab a drink with Damien (and to try to win Styx tickets, which we didn't, thank you very much Q104.3...). Gabe joined up for a drink as well and we went off to the movie theater to see the Borat movie. Which was great. Between the Running of the Jew, the mortgage broker meeting, Pamela Anderson, the old Jewish couple, the "Gyspy" woman--this movie was hilarious. Go see it.

Saturday morning we hopped in Jeff's car and drove up to Hunter. We got to the house that Deanna rented for her birthday and hung out. Drank some beers and played pool. Warmed by the fire and ate some chips and veggies. Had dinner at Last Chance Beer and Cheese (which was very yummy) and then went back to the house for more drinking, Taboo, a few rockin' rounds of Left Right Center, some cupcakes and more hanging by the fire. Good times had by all!

On our way home on Sunday, we stopped off to see the world's largest kaleidoscope (not pictured below) which was fun, albeit full of propganda. Goebels would be proud. Got back to the city in time to watch the espn.com play by play of the Redskins' victory over the cowboys and ordered in some yummy sushi for dinner.

Last night, I took D out for her birthday. Went to Moto and ate like kings--baked crab meat, eggs stuffed with tuna and anchovies, amazing pork ribs and a fantastic fish stew over risotto. Desert was the incomparable grilled donuts topped with cinnamon and sugar. Mmmmmm....

Travel notes:
Off to LA this weekend. Get to see my nieces and hang out with some good friends. Can't wait!

Music notes:
Everyone go out and buy The Slip's new album, Eisenhower, today. It's damn good.

CMJ - or - How I learned to stop worrying and love NYC concerts

2006-11-02T11:59:00.000-05:00

The only marathon I'm ever going to participate in is the CMJ Music Marathon, which takes place every fall in New York City. 5 days of concert madness--every venue in the city has 3-8 showcase concerts each night. And the elusive CMJ badge gets you into eveyr show. From Piano's to Webster Hall. Best week ever.

I kicked off my CMJ week on Tuesday up at Lincoln Center at the day stage. Picked up my badge and saw The Slip play. Pretty annoying sound issues, but the show was still fun. They played my birthday song, Children of December, so that always makes me smile. And you can never go wrong with Even Rats. Happy Halloween!

Yesterday Josh and I went down to Mercury Lounge to see the Whigs. Brandon from ATO has been trying to get me to check them out for a few months now and this was my first chance. They were a blast--indie power rock trio from Athens, GA, who didn't act too pretentious on stage, nor did they dress like complete schmucks (an all-too-common plight in the indie rock world). Played a bunch of songs off their last album "Give 'Em All a Big Fat Lip" including Technology, which was features on the Relix CD Sampler a few issues ago.

Then a quick bite at San Loco with Jon Bahr and Erik Dane (mmmm guaco loco) and off to Tonic to get our Slip on again. This time was a longer set with no sound problems. And they killed it!! Marc started it off in style with his foot piano pedal thingies. We got a perfect Even Rats, a raging Children of December (which SuperDee pointed out that it's more a song about HER birthday (I was lucky I was born in the summer / Nineteen seventy five
/ It was as hot as an oven) than about MY birthday (All the parents of the children of December / Have a clutch / 'Cause their birthdays are the hardest to remember).

Either way, great show. I even got my Airplane Primitive that I had wanted--which I requested to Jesse Jarnow immediately before they played it. God bless instant gratification.

Line of the night:
Outside of Mercury Lounge, Josh Baron quipped "I shit out epiphanies."

The Goose is Loose!

2006-10-31T19:40:00.000-05:00

Fantastic weekend in Vegas. Took a long cab ride to JFK to board my JetBlue flight to Vegas on Friday. Still felt pretty miserable but slept the entire flight. Landed in the desert and hopped in the cab line where Annabel immediately jumped on me. Caught up with her while sharing a cab to the Alexis Park. Long line to check in, but my politeness to the clerk yielded me a free upgrade to a room with a jacuzzi and a fireplace.

Soaked in the jacuzzi for a while and napped, which helped me feel immensely better. Met Beth and Amy in the lobby and was revitalized by their slap-happiness. Played with their one-eyed stuffed animals, Hans and Choctopuss (the latter was named by me). Went to dinner at Mr. Lucky's at the Hard Rock. Waited for me people to arrive--slowly trickled in one by one--Jill, Russ, Deanne. Hung with Doug and then drove to The Hotel to set up for Russ's surprise birthday party. People started arriving--first came Dan (whose actual birthday it was), Dana and Jordan. Then the Alexis Park crew, and finally Adam!! A short stint at the craps table (nary a roller hit the point--sigh). Back to the hotel for some sleep.

Woke up bright and early with another Jambase addition in the room. Bummed a ride with Andrew Warren, Dee, Scott and Kayceman. Made the rounds at the festival grounds, sucking down Smart Water like it was my job. Still weak on the feat, spent a lot of time in the shade and sitting down. Highlights--Toubab Krewe, Gomez, Cat Power, MMW with Maceo (Slade saw me on the webcast!), Raconteurs, Black Crowes (sat in the photo pit 3 feet from Chris Robinson). Didn't quite get the Mars Volta and was pretty bored by the Killers--but I did smile like I meant it. Scored a free pair of Crocs that kept my feet nice and comfy.

Left before Petty to catch a quick nap back at the hotel. Adam and Dee woke me up around midnight and we hopped a cab to the Orleans to see Phil and Trey. Got to hang with Cory Swindle and danced to a fun Ghost->Cryptical->Other One->Dark Star->Drifting. What's not to like!? Left the show during the second set to lose more money at the craps table, this time with Andy Gadiel. Shared a cab home with Shari Beth and passed out around 5, which was really 6 (I hate you, lack of daylight savings time!), which was really 9.

Sunday morning, bright and early again. Rode in with Jambase just in time to see Band of Horses (thanks, Alyson, for that half a sandwich), who were awesome, followed by Built to Spill, who also ruled, despite some sound problems (Nowhere Nothin' Fuckup was a highlight). The Rhythm Devils played a fun New Speedway Boogie while we were riding the ferris wheel and Phil and Trey rocked out with Shakedown, Like a Rolling Stone and Help->Slip->Frank.

But nothing during the weekend came close to the Jim James set. Steph, Jill and I staked out a good spot 5 people deep from the stage, dead center. Jim played with Carl (from MMJ), who spent most of his time on the slide guitar. They came out on stage with an axe and a sledgehammer and promised that by the end of the show, the 8 jackolanters at the front of the stage would be smashed. They went through 17 songs, spanning MMJ's whole catalogue--Old September Blues, Butch Cassidy, The Bear, Nashville to Kentucky off of Tennessee Fire, The Way that he Sings, Bermuda Highway, Hopefully off of At Dawn, Just One Thing, Golden and Dancefloors off of It Still Moves, and Gideon, Wordless Chorus and What a Wonderful Man from Z.

Golden and Gideon were just spectacular. Jim can hit the high notes perfectly EVERY single time--it's really something special. Right before Wordless Chorus, the bleed from the Roots to the left and Widespread Panic to the right was pretty bad, so Jim asked us (and himself) to imagine being isolated in a sound forest--trees all around, and just to focus on the music coming out of the right speaker (the left one didn't want to work). It was very easy to get lost in his voice. But Dancefloors was truly the most transcendant moment. Steph and I were going crazy (and the only ones singing the responsive "Oh I know") as Jim's pristine voice and perfect guitar playing soared high above one of the best hip hop acts and one of the best souther jam rock bands.

The rest of the weekend was lowkey--chill dinner at Mr. Lucky's with Dan, Steph and Jill, then some hanging with those two ladies and a quick cameo at the ReapAndSow Superunloader concert at the Paradise Cantina.

Easy flight back to NYC and life was good. Rode home in Junior with Dee and said goodbye to another perfect festival. Excellent weekend--kudos to Superfly. I'm the only person to ever leave vegas healthier and feeling better than when I landed.

"daybreak. nightfall. long as I believe
there ain't nothing glowin like this skin you're showin
and the keys you gave to me"

Vegas, baby, Vegas!!!

2006-10-26T22:05:00.000-04:00

So, I'm lying in bed, where i've spent the last 30+ hours, miserable with the flu. Thanks a lot, influenza...

Tomorrow, assuming I can get out of bed, I'm heading to Vegas for the second annual music festival Vegoose. Very pumped to see most of my crew (Russ, Beth, Marcus, Meredith, Jill, Amy, Jordan, Adam) and everyone else who's going to be there. I can't wait to spend a long weekend in the desert with some great bands (Jim James solo, Band of Horses, the Raconteurs, the Killers, the Mars Volta (going to give them a second chance), Tom Petty, Phil, Trey, Built to Spill, Gomez, Cat Power, the Roots, etc) and some great people.

A recap from earlier this week--after work on Tuesday, I met Deanna at Bar Tabac in Carroll Gardens. Stephane was playing with his trio for one set, followed by the gypsy jam session. Dinner was great, with an excellent Gigondas to whet our pallates. Good pate appetizer topped off with a perfect lamb steak entree.

Got home and my throat started closing in. Which I knew was bad news... woke up Wednesday morning feeling like death. Took a very difficult subway ride to work and realized I shouldn't have left my bed. Made it to my morning meeting and then to RHD to do the page placements for the next issue of the mag. Took a car home ($8 from Dumbo, yikes!!) and passed out in my bed. Felt pretty horribly again this morning, but my fever did break a few hours ago.

So, I have 13 hours until I have to leave for my flight. So here's to hoping I get better by then!

See you after Vegas :)

I want to glide through those brown eyes dreaming

2006-10-23T19:44:00.000-04:00

And another weekend spent in the city. And another amazing weekend. Friday was long and the whole day I couldn't wait to get over to Deanna's place. Got there around 6:30 with two bottles of wine in tow (and a quick plum wine tasting at Landmark Wines on 23rd). We decided to go out for dinner and I took her to The Elephant for some yummy French/Thai fusion. I tried a new beer (Import 33) and her sangria had a grapefruit twist. Excellent.

Spent the rest of the night drinking wine at her place, listening to tunes. Woke up bright and early the next morning, had some coffee and read the New Yorker on her couch and parted ways. I went home to my bed to catch up on my DVR list and relax for a few hours. Met Steph at Century 21 to do some shopping. Dropped a lot of money but got some great shirts, a cashmere sweater, a funky track jacket, a belt and some socks. Steph did well, as always.

Met up with Deanna again to tour The Chapel of Sacred Mirrors, Alex Grey's installation in Chelsea. I met Alex at the Jammys in 04 (or 05?) and have definitely enjoyed his art. But I was pretty blown away by the Chapel. 14 or so full length paintings going through the cycle of human science--anatomy to consciousness to self-awareness to transcendental awakening.

Ended up grabbing a bite at Pete's Tavern on Irving. Built in 1864, it claims to be the oldest continually-run pub in NYC. Excellent burger and really yummy chickpea salad. Which reminds me--what defines a salad? Is tuna and mayo tuna salad, or does it need to have celery and carrots to garner that distinction? We finished the night off at Common Ground, celebrating the one-year anniversary with the ice luge. Good times!

Sunday morning was spent over brunch at the Grey Dog then off to HeadQuarters to be an extra in the John Popper Project video shoot for the single "Lapdance." 'Nuff said :) Great day, though it did drag on a little too long. Kudos to Raven for chatting with me for 45 minutes, giving me a great insight into the inner-workings of the dancing industry. She was part of the unionizing dancers, as told by the movie "Live Nude Girls Unite!"

All in all, a great weekend. And I developed a whole new appreciation for "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart" as if I wasn't already obsessed with it enough. But so it goes...

The Second Greatest Band on Earth

2006-10-19T15:24:00.000-04:00

So let's just get it out of the way. Tenacious D is the greatest band on earth. Hands down, no questions asked, case in point, end of debate, exit stage left. And sure, I love Phish, the Dead, Wilco, MMJ, Kylie Minogue and others, but let's be honest with ourselves--do any of them hold up to the long and satanic shadow cast by the D?

The only one who comes close is Surprise Me Mr. Davis. 3 parts Slip and one part tomato farmer. The recipe for fun. Andrew, Marc, Brad and Nathan all join forces to play some of the most beautifully crafted songs with balls to the wall rock, americana, blues, folk and a rubber ball.

So since most people out there haven't heard of them, check out this SMMD show from High Sierra this past summer (and it was a damn fine show--they opened for MMJ in the big barn).

Take the Blues out of your Travels

2006-10-18T11:39:00.000-04:00

Last night was the John Popper Project at the Canal Room. I saw these guys about two years ago, right when they first started, at the short lived venue Suite 16. Last night's show was fantastic. It was less about Popper showing off his harmonica skills and way more about a band of very talented musicians throwing down some serious grooves.

Check out their CD which just came out... and make sure you catch them when they come to your neck of the woods. It's a show not to be missed.

It's a great outlet for Blues Traveler fans... it's new, it's different, it's exploratory. It's funky. I had no idea Tad was such a great bass player (has a great tone on the upper registry of his 6-stringer). Logic adds great texture with his scratching and Popper is just insane. I'm really surprised he doesn't play any other instruments, but man, can he wail away on the harp. Or Gob Iron if we were in the UK.
Music Notes:
Got a copy of the new Tom Waits 3-disc set, Orphans. First disc is whiskey soaked songs about drinkin' and being rowdy (Brawlers), the second disc is slower ballads, lost loves, ridin' the rails and unending rain (Bawlers), and the last disc is everything else (Bastards). Very very good.

Fun in CT -or- How I Realized I Don't Ever Need to Run (and am very content lying on my couch)

2006-10-16T11:58:00.000-04:00

Hopped the train up to Stamford on Friday night with Chrissy and Kyle. Beth picked us up at the train station and we got to see their great apartment. We had a massive Italian feast (so Beth could carbo-load for the big race on Saturday) and drove up to Hartford to a hotel to get some sleep.

Up at 6:30, breakfast and coffee, then off to the starting line in the park. Lots of people, mad rush to get in portopotty lines, a crowd, a shotgun and they're off. We saw Bethy in her pink shirt ("Beth" on front and "Ain't Life Grand" on back), waved, cheered and walked over to the bridge, mile 2 and 8 (on the return trip). We staked a good spot and waited for the first runnes to come through.

I loved cheering for everyone--a few people with their names on their shirts made it easy to root them on. One guy had an "Atom Heart Mother" shirt so I said "Pink Floyd rules!" and he pumped his fists. Another girl had stopped running and slowed down to a crawling pace of a walk. I cheered her on and get her jogging again. Half the people were in the ZONE and couldn't be disturbed but most people were psyched to hear clapping and cheering.

Then Bethy crested the bridge and we yelled, held out Chrissy's handmade banner and slapped her high five. She was in great shape--exactly on her 10-minute clip and still going strong. We went back to the finish line and saw some familiar faces--scary half naked dude, the mother pushing her stroller the whole time, the couple tied together with 3' of rope. And then Beth's smile came through the arch and she crossed the finish line at 2:12:15. What a champ!!!!!

And instead of getting food or a massage or sitting down, Beth exclaims that she really wanted a beer. So we went to the beer garden and had a few Sam Adams Oktoberfests at 10:30am. Check out some of Russ's pictures and write-up at his awesome travelogue page.

Back to the hotel for some showers and down time, then off to Manchester for a yummy lunch and 9 holes of disc golf in a gorgeous park Russ found. I hit the pin twice on long drives--came really close to making some spectacular shots. Fun was had by all.

Then we made our way to Guilford to Taylor's great cottage on a hill above the water for a great bonfire. 1 keg and 2 bottles of port wine later, we drove back (DD Russ drove) to Stamford to pass out.

Sunday, Deanna and I met up at City Hall and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge to the arts festival in Dumbo. Such a beautiful day to be outside. We saw a moving Katrina exhibit, a fun hip-hop retrospective, some public art in the parks on the water, and saw a ton of private artist workshops and studios in 68 John Street--they opened their doors to the public so we could see all the great work.

Then off to the promenade to sit (lots of walking! or should I say "tramping") and dinner at my place. Got to sit on my couch for the first time in a while--great way to end a marathon of a weekend.

Music Notes:
Just got the new Pure Jerry release today... mmmmm. Started the day off with some Sigur Ros and Josh Rouse. But let's all take a minute to remember CBGBs, which closed its doors last night for the last time, after Patti Smith rocked the house down with Flea on bass. RIP CBGBs

Alcoholic Notes:
This Saturday is the one year anniversary of Common Ground, my favorite bar in the city. So to celebrate, they are having an ICE LUGE and a free shot for everyone who walks in the door. Yes, that's right, an ICE LUGE!!

TGIF and RIP Lenny Bruce

2006-10-13T11:01:00.000-04:00

Today would have been Lenny Bruce's 81st birthday and one can only imagine what he would have been able to accomplish had he not ODed in '66. So, think back to the first time you heard "Religions Incorporated" and drink one for LB tonight.

Last night was great--met Deanna at Bar Veloce for a drink, then some yummy sushi at Takahachi followed by a drink and some connect 4 at Common Ground (where a reggae/dub band was playing, go figure!).

Today is a quick day at work and I'm heading up to CT to visit Russ and Beth's new place. Tomorrow we're riding up to Hartford to watch Bethy run a half marathon (!!!) then to Taylor's bonfire on the water at sunset.

Music Notes:
Nina Simone Remixed and Re-Imagined. This album has been blowing my mind nonstop for the last few weeks. Funkier Than A Mosquito's Tweeter, Ain't Got No and O-o-oh Child. Go buy this album today. SO GOOD!

Regan and Rob's Wedding

2006-10-10T23:00:00.000-04:00

What a fantastic weekend. Regan Teti married Rob Marscher in the most picturesque, beautiful, autumn weekend in the Catskill Mountains. A ton of old friends and a few new ones celebrated with with such a joie de vivre--with music, food, dance, drink, nature and a couple of slide didgeridoos.

Josh and I spent a great morning with SuperDee grabbing some bagels in Windsor Terrace and eating in the park. Got to see Sage and finally meet her new pup Leo, who is even cuter in real life than in pictures. Josh and I hopped in Dee's car, Junior, a great little '96 Honda done up with hippie stickers, to pick up Weintraub. We got up to the Full Moon Resort outside of Woodstock around 7:30 in time for dinner and a great bonfire / jam session. AGP acoustic played Tenacious D's "Friendship" and there was some great percussion jams in between smores and beers.

Monday morning was a lazy one, hanging by the stream, tossing the frisbee. The wedding took place at 5:00 outside in a field in between mountains. The perfect colors of foliage dotted the mountainside--vibrant reds, yellows and oranges. The couple looked great with huge smiles the whole time. Stephan played the cocktail hour and Sam Kinninger and his band rocked out later for two sets (with a sit in by Rob and a full AGP experience). Revelry continued long into the night and many hugs were exchanged this morning while we were saying "goodbyes" and earnest "we'll see you soons."

If you tried to script your perfect fall outdoorsy wedding, it wouldn't come close to how great this one was.

Music Notes:
Their first dance was Ween and another highlight was that "Alarms going off in my head" track off of Of Montreal's The Sunlandic Twins. I had just told Jill to check them out, as I'm sure she'd love the combination of 80s synth pop and crossdressing indie. Good stuff!

Ain't life grand?

2006-10-08T03:38:00.000-04:00

Oh man, where to start?! It's 3:30 on Saturday night and I've got a huge smile on my face. Why, you may ask? Why not! Today was just one of those perfect days... this week was one of those perfect weeks.

Last night I started out at the Merc for Hot Buttered Rum and New Monsoon. Got to boogie with Jen and Scott, Evan and Eve, Marimar, Amy, Molly and Jared. Always good to see my intern out. Butter boys started off slowly, which was just what I wanted. Some mellow bluegrass to start the weekend off right. A perfect tribute to Bill Monroe and a ragin' Well-Oiled Machine. Setbreak came and went and Monsoon came out RAGING. Unfortunately, I had to split after the second song to get uptown to Andy Bernstein's birthday party.

Rebel, formerly Downtime, is Jake's new venue. 400 people--bar up front, perpendicular stage space in the back, DJ area upstairs by the bathrooms, and a third room (that I didn't venture into). But the best thing about the party was all the people. From the usuals (Sage, Josh, Andy, Jesse, Ellie, Jenny, Josh Fields, Brandi, Joyce etc) to the randoms (Leah!) it was just full of the best people in the world. And I got to spend some time with Deanna. :) Kudos to Jordan and the rest of SpyWagon for funkifyin' the club.

One highlight from the party was when I was talking to Jay Bau. I saw Jonathan Healy walking by us, so I gave him a good smack on the arm, as a hello. Only it wasn't Heals. It was some completely random person. He handled it well, for sure. But Jay and I laughed pretty hard--I realized, wow, it's fun to hit a stranger...

Today was a lazy day... Slept in this morning, had a bagel, watched some TV (always good to catch up on my DVR), then got a call from SuperDee--she wanted to explore Carroll Gardens today. So I motivated. Only she was on the 2/3 line so I suggested we meet at Clark St and explore the Heights. On my way to meet her, Sage reminded me that it was the Oyster and Guinness festival in DUMBO, so Dee and I grabbed a cup of coffee, hung out on the promenade and urban hiked (read: walked) down to Front Street to have some afternoon Guinness and Oysters.

It was so gorgeous outside... sun shining, clear skies, fun honkeytonk band playing (The Defribulators, I believe--and their guitarist was simply named RoadBlock). We spent some time in the park, looking at the public art (see the pictures), noted the four different weddings taking place and just enjoyed being there. Great company, great borough, great beer--life is good.

Went back home, had a power nap, then went into the city to Jen Safady's place to catch up. We hung for a bit then went down Bowery to see some Gomez. Weird crowd, late start. Not too many friendlies--Kellita, Johnny Beach... Pela(?) opened--good music, bad vocals. Gomez came on strong with "Get Miles" and rocked pretty hard for the next hour and a half. Rachel, Dee, Tom and Cole all showed up and life was good. I left during the encore to meet Deanna for some more chatting. Love the dimples. Love the smile and laughs. Can't wait to see her next week.

Well, time for some sleep. Skins/Giants tomorrow, then off to Regan and Rob's wedding!!! See you on Tuesday.

Ain't life grand? It sure is...

Don't look a gift bong in the mouth

2006-10-06T14:11:00.000-04:00

Please watch that. It's really funny.

A Monsoon of Butter

2006-10-06T11:58:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was one of those whirlwind days--running from concert to concert, bar to bar, friend to friend. So, basically it was any day of the week ending in "y." Started the evening off at Nice Guy Eddie's for a drink with Steph, then onto Mo Pitkins to have some drinks with Cam (and see some guy play--Jason Darling). After that we went across houston to Mercury Lounge for the NM/HBR show. Got to spend some time with the Monsooners and was able to take good care of them (thanks, Intern Jared!!)

We got a great Bo's Blues and a sick Coal Mine (keep on singing, Bo!). Raj was definitely missed, but Brian really stepped up and threw down HARD. I'd never seen the boys drop into a jungle groove so seemlessly. The energy was through the roof and the whole band stepped up--one of the better shows I've seen them do. Jeff was rocking out the SG, Phil's organ and piano licks were perfect, Benny kept running riffs up the neck of the bass. The Stagger Lee cover was a highlight. As was the song that Aaron Redner sat in.

I had a great conversation with Nat about the song Dolphin (his dad wrote it). I can't wait to hear it tonight. And here's to hoping for a Tom Waits cover.

Unfortunately, I had to leave Butter early to go see Jodi who was in town for the night.

Travel Notes:
Just booked my flight to Florida for New Years. I land on the 28th (mmmm dinner at the crab house) and hang out on Jupiter Island through New Years Day. Then down to Davie to hang with Ethan, then on to JAM CRUISE!!

A Monsoon of Butter

2006-10-06T11:58:00.000-04:00

Back in the saddle again...

2006-10-05T16:45:00.000-04:00

So, I'm way too busy at work to be doing this, but I feel that it's time (if not long overdue) to bring back my blog. So let it be written, so let it be done.

Fall is closing in quick... woke up this morning--crisp breeze, smile on my face from last night's date and no sunglasses to shield my eyes from the harsh morning sun. So I had to keep my head down, using my forehead and hair to keep my eyes in the shade; and today was the first day I noticed leaves on the ground. Time to switch back over from chilled whites to warming reds. Time to dust off the slippers (though, I did buy a new pair a few weeks ago) and break out the blankets.

Last night was a blast--went out with Deanna. Started the night at Crocodile Lounge (thanks to the lovely Ms. Seiden for having her bday party there a few weeks ago) where I got my assed kicked in skeeball and buck hunt. Then on to Irving Plaza for Built to Spill.

Doug Marsch is a god among men. He's just *that* good. It's amazing how he can replicate the studio vocals live every time, just like Jim James. And he just sounds soooo good. Last night's show was pretty perfect. Opened with Goin' Against Your Mind. Other highlights were The Plan, Carry the Zero, and Conventional Wisdon. Can't wait to see them again at Vegoose!

Music Notes:
Great weekend ahead of me. Gomez on Saturday. Tonight is New Monsoon and Hot Buttered Rum at the Merc. Seeing them again tomorrow, then running uptown for Andy Bernstein's bday party. Hopefully I'll be able to catch the tail end of RUBULAD tomorrow night. Brownies? Yes they are.

Travel Notes:
Going upstate this weekend to Regan and Rob's wedding at the Full Moon Resort. I can't wait!! Big thanks to Dee for lending me her car, Junior. I can't wait to see Marcus and Meredith!! (And Bobby D, Dan and Ali and everyone else). But NYC has missed M/M way too much.

Eric Clapton with Derek Trucks at the Brooklyn Musuem

2006-03-29T10:02:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I completely lied, but it certainly is a catchly headline. More importantly, the truth of the matter is that tour dates have finally been announced for the much-rumoured (yes, British spelling) highly-anticipated Clapton/Trucks tour. As of now, they'll only be playing in Europe, but that includes a SEVEN-NIGHT STAND at Royal Albert Hall. Seven friggin nights... I would love to see one of those shows and I REALLY hope they come stateside. (Note that they're also playing at Globen in Stockholm, which is where I saw the World Cup of Hockey, and it looks like an enormous geodesic dome that you can see all the way from Stadshuset. You can check out the tour dates here.

As for this upcoming weekend, I'll be at the Brooklyn Museum on Saturday night. It's the first Saturday of the month, so that means it's free and it's a big party. From 7-8:30, the Upright Citizens Brigade will "wander through the Museum performing hilarious routines in unexpected places." I love New York. Followed by that will be a DJ spinning in the Great Hall, then back into the city for a birthday party and then late night concert Raq at the Bowery.

Post script:
Here's a clip of an IM conversation I just had with Jarnow:
me: so, eric and derek!
Jarnow: what about 'em?
Jarnow: i mean, i knew they were playing together
Jarnow: is there anything besides that?
me: 7 nights at royal albert
Jarnow: heady
Jarnow: i'm not much of a clapton fan, but maybe derek'll make him grow some balls
me: exactly
Jarnow: little boys sometimes do that for crusty british dudes ;-)

George Mason and Gomez

2006-03-28T17:19:00.000-05:00

So, last night we went to see Gomez at the Hiro Ballroom. Big thanks goes to Brandon at ATO Records for hooking it up. Last time I saw Gomez was somewhere between Cuba and the Cayman Islands. God bless Jam Cruise! (See the above pictures--first is me with Tom from Gomez and below features Josh Baron, Tom and Jeff Waful. And a blue feathered boa. Some things are better left to the imagination...

So last's show was a blast... they had seats set up at Hiro (which I've never seen before), so we grabbed a spot up at the balcony. The crew was me, Baron, Gabe and Jen Safady. As Gabe mentioned to me several times, Safady would make the perfect companion for another European Romp (see Central Europe pictures, link on the right). And as Saf said this morning, she wants to be our Elaine. So based solely on physical description, Josh would have to be Kramer.

So then based on that, with the remaining options what they are, I guess Gabe would be George and I would be Jerry. I'd much prefer to be Putty, but I'm not a big chest-painter, so I'll stick with Jerry. And that's just weird.

Sports notes:
A bunch of us (me, Baron, Michael Weintrob, Mikey Greenhaus, and of course Rob Marscher) went to see Long Island University's womens' lacrosse game, as the lovely Regan Teti is their head coach. Unfortunately, the Blackbirds didn't win, but it was great to see Regan in action. And hats off to Amy Rizzo for scoring 5 goals in the game!

So college basketball tournament is winding down. Despite having the chance of placing last in both my pools (ugh), it's been one hell of a tourney. You have to smile for George Mason (DC pride!) for making it this far, and let's hope they can win it all. It's just a shame my Terps aren't playing right now... and so it goes.

Book notes:
No fewer than two weeks ago, I was lamenting to Jesse Jarnow that it's not fair that I've read all of Kurt Vonnegut's books. Now I have to wait 20 years until I forget which book is which and get to reread them. But when I was down it Atlanta at Seth's place, he had one book on his coffee table. And sure enough, it was a Vonnegut book I HAD NOT read before! So now I'm reading Slapstick and loving it. And so it goes. Ho hum.

Camera phone

2006-03-23T16:15:00.000-05:00

Just got my new phone, with camera and flash. So, now we'll be able to update with more pictures (seeing as how I almost never keep my camera on me unless I'm at a festival or traveling). Sweet!

Music notes:
Just got the new David Gilmour album, very excited to listen to it. But, it will have to wait until I fix my computer/external hard drive/ipod problem (aka I can't put music from my computer onto my ipod right now. it sucks.)

At Langerado, Tom Hamilton gave a demo copy of his new American Babies project. It is pretty damn awesome, so check it out when it comes around.

TV notes:
I caught the premier of "Heist" last night (mmm widescreen). I wasn't blown away but I definitely enjoyed it and will keep it on my DVR list. And, my randomly free HBO came to a sad end last night. Alas...

I'm going back to New York City, I do believe I've had enough

2006-03-22T15:33:00.000-05:00

I had the greatest cab driver last night. I was going from the World Financial Center (PJ Clarke's with Kelley) to 14th and 1st (to grab the L train with Russ to go see Matt Pond) and this guy just had a huge smile on his face. He was so happy to be driving me around, he loved NYC and he taught me something I didn't know--medallion numbers with letters A-F are independently owned. But more importantly, it was a very enjoyable cab ride (and I tipped him 100%).

Last night's show was Matt Pond PA at North Six in Williamsburg. Ran into Katie Caperton on the train, who never made it to the show (booo!). Got there as Youth Group was setting up. They were ok, albeit too derivative for my taste. I got a chance to catch up with Brian Pearl (Matt Pond's guitarist)--they've been on tour for six straight weeks. He told me that getting their equipment stolen (oddly enough fewer than 10 blocks from where we were) was actually a blessing in disguise, as they were insured and able to get all new equipment.

Their set was a blast. The cellist adds SUCH a perfect texture to the mix, and Matt's voice is pristine. Good show, no doubt--and a big shoutout to Brian (who knew he could play the keys too?). Glad to have a night off tonight (though, anything exciting going on?), that's for sure.

Music notes:
Built to Spill has postponed their spring tour--Doug Martsch is recovering from eye surgery. Now, it only took Sage a weekend to recover from hers, and I bet Doug could even play with his eyes closed. But, I do wish a speedy recovery and all the best to Doug and I can't wait to see you in the fall! If you haven't bought their new album yet, do so today. Conventional Wisdom will be in my top 10 songs of the year come December...

PGroove and the Colonel (retired)

2006-03-18T03:08:00.000-05:00

So, I'm back at the Mayor's place. I found it necessary to start calling Shimon the Mayor of Atlanta because everywhere we went, people would line up to give him a hug--like an acne-faced Bar Mitzvah kid's parents' reception line. He knew everyone and definitely knows how to show me a good time.

We left his place around 4 this afternoon and headed to the New Yorker Deli. Now, I'm one who is quite familiar with a good deli sandwich. And I'd even venture to say I'm quite the Reuben conoisseur, but apparently I've never had a *true* New York Reueben. Sure, regular russian dressing isn't enough, so I guess it is beneficial to have some spicy mustard as a counterpoint. That being said, logic stands to reason that simply having thinly-sliced pastrami between two pieces of rye doesn't cut it, so the only way to restore balance to the galaxy is to compensate with some added corned beef.

And so it goes... who am I to complain with some extra Boar's Head?

Onwards to TreeSound, where we found the band hanging out, low-key, at 5:30. A few red bull/vodkas later (and Josh would be proud that Ben bought a handle of Svedka),
the crowd started shuffling in. Plenty of people in green, ready to dance. At 8, the band took the stage and started off on fire with a great Space Paranoids. They kept loose and winded the first set through a high-energy Robot Waltz. Set break found us talking to some fun people (including Russ from Brother Bean). They boys really locked in during the second set with Adam and Albert dropping a solid beat throughout TSMM and Speed Queen.

The sound was spectacular inside the Cave, but what really impressed me was Huffer's lights. Not only did he do a great job lighting the band, but he really understands the beauty of not shining the bright lights in the audience's eyes.

But the real magic came out when the boys took the stage for the encore. Brock started it out slowly with Matt adding the perfect layers on top of the guitar work. 20 minutes later, the place exploded when the jam turned itself into Perihelion. All in all, a phenominal show!

After saying our goodbyes (until tomorrow), Seth and I headed over to Smith's Olde Bar to see Col. Bruce and the Codetalkers. We got there just as the first set was ending. Thanks to the Mayor's handshaking campaign, I was able to chat with all the Codetalkers, Guarav from Captain Soularcat, and Kofi Burbridge of DTB fame.

Indeed, Kofi sat in as the Codetalkers started the second set. With him on organ and the Col. (ret.) on lap steel, Bobby Lee was able to keep the band on task--everyone in the room was dancing and revelling in the green-ale upstairs at Smith's.

But most importantly, Rob Turner was in FINE form. And god bless him--he brings a smile to everyone's face. Our favorite wavy-haired pot-bellied writer's antics got even Bruce's attention, as he looked up mid-jam only to shake his head at Rob with an ever-inviting smirk.

After being on the receiving end to a few of Turner's punches Shimon and I figured it was about time to head home. (Hey, at least I walked out of there before he bit off part of my ear!) So now I find myself ready to get some sleep, very much looking forward to tomorrow's show.

Random Note
Before the show started, I found myself upstairs in the Degy office, flipping through the Xingolati program only to find myself reading the Thank Yous on the last page. It was quite a surprise when I saw that they thanked (in order) "Aaron Benner, Relix Magazine, [and] Jambands.com." Hey, it was definitely close enough to put a big smile on my face!

Down in hotlanta!

2006-03-17T12:26:00.000-05:00

So, I'm down in the ATL right now... getting some work done from Shimon's office. I still haven't had a chance to decompress from Langerado yet--it's been a busy week, but no complaints. But I did get a chance to post my pictures from the festival. And I plan on adding links to all my Ofoto galleries on the right side of the page.

There I am with four hotties--Jenny, Jordan, Lisa and Jodi--down in Florida.

So a brief note about Langerado--cheers to the Biscuits and Brothers Past and Pnuma and all the bands who really made the weekend so perfect. It was really special to have the Biscuits play late night on Friday and then close the festival out with the surprise encore at the Conspirator show on Sunday night.

Travel Notes
I'm down in Atlanta enjoying some great southern hospitality. Big thanks to Shimon Presents for giving me a place to sleep and get some work done (but boo to him for making me flyer the Buckethead show last night, haha). I spent a few hours at TreeSound Studios last night. That place is pretty damn awesome. Cheers to Chad for taking the time to show me around. And cheers to the studio for keeping a brown ale on tap at all times :)

Music Notes
Since I can sleep later, I went out Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday I took Mike Toft to the Beacon to see a great Allman Brothers Band show. We grabbed two seats in the orchestra and ended up sitting next to the sweet couple who sat in front of me on the flight home from Langerado. The show was a blast--they opened the second set with an acoustic set of Warren, Derek and Elvin Bishop (profiled in the next issue of Relix). Then Pinetop Perkins (of Muddy Waters' band fame) played with the full ABB. Great great show--amazing Van Morrison cover and a fun version of The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.

Wednesday Lindsay and I went to see Jesse Harris at the Living Room. Short set, but a fun--he's a great songwriter (he wrote all of Norah Jones' songs) and a pretty good guitar player. Ran into Mike "Hernando Casa di Verde" and the indefatigable Tom Russell and had a night cap at Max Fish.

Last night after hanging out in TreeSound, Shimon and I went to the Variety Playhouse to see Buckethead. Unfortunately we missed the Pnuma Trio's opening set, but we still managed to have a great town. Seth is practically the mayor down here. Thanks to the staff at the Variety for their great hospitality too!

Though I have no good reason to be, I'm just a little jealous of everyone who's heading to Europe right now for Jam in the Dam. Have an AMAZING time--Biscuits, Umphrey's, the Duo, STS9, all my friends (James, Robyn, Dee, Rachel, Liz) and everyone else there--be safe, party down and kick ass for me.

"Unlock my body and move myself to dance" -Jeff Tweedy

Langerado - festival achieves perfection!

2006-03-14T15:28:00.000-05:00

So, I just got back from Langerado and it was indeed an amazing time. The music was spectacular, the people were amazing, the weather was ideal. All in all--the festival really was the perfect festival. Kudos to Ethan and Mark for the lineup and ensuring that everything ran as smoothly as it did.

Shoutouts are due to the following people (and many more too, but I'm pretty busy today so I'm sure I'll forget some people):
Ethan Scwhartz, Mark Brown, Annabel Lukins, Captain Toast, Carrie Lombardi, Amy Cummins, Lebo, Seth "The Rabbi", Hogan, Jeff Sadler, Magner, Brownstein, Barber, Allen, Tom Hamilton, PGroove (and their ladies!!), Brad, Jeff Wood, Judy Gex, Mike and Benjy (go cold turkey!), Kelli Schwartz, Brian Asplin, Andy Gadiel, Dave Vann, Michael Weintrob, Berkowitz, Joe Russo, the Butter boys and countless other people who made this festival so amazing.

I'll write more later when I get some free time.

Green Apple Music Festival!

2006-03-09T10:59:00.000-05:00

Well, the time finally came. We just announced the lineup and schedule for the Green Apple Music and Arts Festival! Taking place from April 21-23 (The Jammys kick it off on April 20), GAMF will take New York by storm, with 75 shows at 25 venues over the course of the three days.

So take a look through the festival lineup and revel in how much fun the weekend will be. Personally, I'm most excited for the following bands: Umphrey's (at CBGBs!), Dan Bern, Baaba Maal, Everyone Orchestra, Ghostface Killa and Slick Rick (!!!), Kaki King, PGroove, Mike Doughty, McCoy Tyner, Rose Hill Drive, Steel Train, Kimock/Perkins, Toubab Krewe, the Slip and the Zen Tricksters. I can't wait!

Music Notes:
Listened to some Tom Waits this morning. Mule Variations. Fell in love with that album while living in Italy. Bought it in Amsterdam, where the guy at the used CD store played me a CD of the Dutch Tom Waits and I loved it but for some reason didn't buy the disc. So if anyone knows who the Dutch Tom Waits is, PLEASE email me!

The new Built To Spill album is still consistently blowing me away. With "Going Against Your Mind" and "Conventional Wisdom," the CD is solid through and through. In fact, it's *great*. But, it does leave me with one question: Who is Mike Jones?

Travel Notes:
Leaving for Florida tonight. Can't wait! Last time I flew JetBlue, the TVs weren't working (though on the return trip from Austin, they did show the Super Bowl). But, I have plenty of crossword puzzles to get caught up on today.

Finally joining the 21st century...

2006-03-08T13:35:00.000-05:00

Well, I guess it's about time. I always try to live by the words of the Good Doctor--"If a thing like this is worth doing, it's worth doing right."--so, here's to a blog that is fun to read!

That's me as the Good Doctor on Halloween '04

A few notes--I don't plan up updating this every day, but who knows what will happen. I do plan on getting a new cell phone, ideally one with a camera. That will make adding pictures much easier, so as soon as I get back from my next two weekend trips, I should be in full force.

Travel Notes:

I'm leaving for Langerado tomorrow. It's a music festival in South Florida in its fourth year, run by my good buddy Ethan Schwartz. And Mark Brown, too (the genius behind Jam Cruise). This year, Wilco is playing, so I'm just a bit excited. Each day this week I've been listening to a different incarnation of Jeff Tweedy (Sunday was Wilco, Monday was Loose Fur, Tuesday was Tweedy solo, and today is Uncle Tupelo. All in all, great music.

Next week (Thursday), I leave for Atlanta. Perpetual Groove, a band I've really enjoyed over the last few years, will be performing to a very small audience at TreeSound Studios in Atlanta--they're multitracking it to be released as a live album. As if the band wasn't great enough, and the guys nice enough, they are bringing me down to Atlanta as their guest to hang with them in the studio and be a part of this project. I'm pretty damn excited!

Tonight will be the first real meeting of Team Zissou, which will be held at Slade's apartment. (The first meeting was postponed due to some members being sick and one member almost dying from cat allergies. Sorry Ernie and Jibboo!).

Music Notes:
Much thanks go to Erik Dane over at Cornerstone for giving me some great music a few weeks ago up in New Hampshire. Last night I put on Tapes 'N Tapes and was very much impressed. So check them out.
Other shoutouts are in order:
Jeff Harris and the Super Casual, featuring the lovely Lindsey Cloud on keys and vocals.
The Disco Biscuits have been rocking my world lately--including their side projects Conspirator and even more so, The Brain-Damaged Eggmen. Keep up the good work, guys!

**Note**
Special thanks to Slade Sohmer, Mike Greenhaus, Jon Bahr and Jesse Jarnow for their support of blogs, and special thanks to the aforementioned four plus Josh Baron and Russell Kahn for their great taste in music.