I’m Broke!

My newest favoritest video. Every time I watch it I find another classic album cover.

Damn that’s cool

My neighbor, Greg, turned me on to this via Twitter. Very cool. Watch it full-screen

iPad…meh…

As a lover of all things geek, I must protest. I don’t need bells and whistles on this product. I want a color e-reader that displays books, magazines and newspapers. One gadget for all my reading needs. Change my life like the iPod. Focus on one thing. And I’d rather not pay more than $99 for it, especially since I’ll be buying subscriptions, issues and books for it constantly. From the Apple event, I’m not too impressed with a glorified web browser that starts at $500.

Hank III at Layla’s

photo by Brian "Bubonic" Williams

What a show! We went down to Nashville to check out the town and catch Hank III’s gig at Layla’s which only fits a couple hundred people. The weather was freezing and icy but it gave us the town mostly to ourselves. We checked out a bunch of bars and heard lots of musicians. Hank III & the Damned Band played for over three hours. It was awesome. His fans are the coolest people you’d want to meet.

We also went to the Country Music Hall of Fame’s current exhibit Family Tradition: The Williams Family Legacy. It’s neat to see Hank’s stuff in a museum. We then headed over to Ernest Tubb’s Record Shop and beefed up our country heroes collection with Lefty Frizzell, Webb Pierce, Waylon, and others.

We had a blast and can’t wait to do it next year with better weather and a friend-of-hank approved list of honky tonks.

Hank Williams III Set List – Wednesday, January 6, 2010 – Layla’s Bluegrass Inn, Nashville, TN

Hank Williams III – Vocals, Andy Gibson – Steel Guitar, Sean McWilliams – Drums, David Mac – Fiddle, Zach Shedd – Sand Up Bass

1. Me and My Friends
2. Trashville
3. Thrown Out of Every Bar
4. Life of Sin
5. Crazed Country Rebel
6. I Don’t Know
7. Six Pack of Beer
8. Pills I Took
9. On My Own
10. Lookin For a Mountain *NEW*
11. The Rebel Within *NEW(ish)*
12. 5 Shots of Whiskey
13. Long Hauls, Close Calls
14. Blue Devil
15. Mississippi Mud

Christmas Coquito!

2 cups of water
3-4 cinnamon sticks
shave of fresh nutmeg
few cloves
12 oz. evaporated milk
14 oz. condensed milk
15 oz. cream of coconut
4 egg yolks
1 liter of white rum
fresh mint leaves (garnish)

* In a non-stick pot, boil the cinnamon sticks and cloves in water until the it smells good and is all smokey looking
* Strain sticks and cloves out of water and return cinnamon spice water to pot
* Separate 4 egg yolks and stir into the evaporated milk and then add to cinnamon water
* Stir in condensed milk over low heat stirring so it doesn’t burn or stick
* When it’s been boiling for a minute add the cream of coconut and stir well
* Take it off the heat for a while then pour into large glass picture and chill overnight
* Add rum and stir
* Serve with mint leaf garnish

SNOW!

I love the first snowfall!

Rocco DiSpirito ROCKS

One of the best things this year is my involvement with Philanthropic Capital Advisors. The opportunity to work within the business of philanthropy is an invaluable education. And then there are the luncheons! (see also Madeleine Albright) With the flawless implementation of the party by Shiraz and HL Group, we filled Cheryl’s dining room with the fascinating and talented to raise money for The Bowery Mission, City Harvest and Food Bank for New York City. Everyone relaxed and had a great time. To top it off, Rocco DiSpirito (who has a new book coming out about healthy cooking *thanks!*) was chef extraordinaire. He is gracious and kind and took time to mingle and chat.

And we made Page Six!

That was FUN!

I’ve never seen Rob Zombie live and he was SO FUN! It was perfect! The sound & lights were perfect and music was perfect and his showmanship was perfect with awesome effects and robots and eeeeviiilnessss.

My only complaint is the merch prices. $70 for a hoodie? Really dude?

MoMA

I haven’t been to the MoMA since I was knee-high to a taxi wheel. Now I want to live there. We could only physically and mentally take in about 5 hours worth. I’m glad we saw Monet’s Water Lilies first. Get the free headphones and listen to the story of how he painted as he cultivated his gardens. It almost made me weep at the beauty of it. I dazed into the layering of his works until I was lost in the poppies. And the Tim Burton exhibit! How awesome and fun! And there are a million other pieces and artists that are worth contemplation. Or not.

LHC News

THE FIRST COLLISION!!! WOOOOOOOO! The LHC is now functioning perfectly with two beams colliding at low energy (450Gev). Proton-proton collisions have been detected by all experiments. -Nov 23, 2009

Family Feud at Café Regular

Aaasss usual, FIPS keeps me in the know.

A Grub Street tipster sent an e-mail over the weekend about unwelcome changes to Park Slope’s Café Regular. “Martin O’Connell, the legendarily sarcastic wizard of the espresso machine, was ousted by his sister Anne this week,” the tipster wrote. A source close to Martin confirmed the family breach to Grub Street today. The siblings had been squabbling since the opening of Café Regular du Nord back in July, but it was some promotional postcards that finalized the breach. Designed by an employee, Richard (who managed du Nord) and Martin were distributing these postcards to customers. Anne didn’t like them and told the brothers to stop giving them out. Richard quit over the micromanagement, and Martin sided with his brother. Martin declined to comment to Grub Street, Richard did not return calls or texts, and several calls to Anne at Café Regular went to message saying the voice-mail system had not been connected. “It’s really a Royal Tenenbaums level of dysfunction,” said the source.

According to our source, Anne is the majority owner of both locations and apparently has the right to oust her brother Martin, whose visa was tied to his job. His future in New York is uncertain, further upsetting regular customers. Our source also confirmed changes to Café Regular that may not be embraced by regulars, like computers and uniforms for the staff. “She’s trying to make it like Starbucks,” he said.

By: Mac Montandon

Photo: Mac Montandon

Broken Embraces

A man writes, lives and loves in darkness. Fourteen years before, he was in a brutal car crash on the island of Lanzarote. In the accident, he not only lost his sight, he also lost Lena, the love of his life. This man uses two names: Harry Caine, a playful pseudonym with which he signs his literary works, stories and scripts, and Mateo Blanco, his real name, with which he lives and signs the film he directs. After the accident, Mateo Blanco reduces himself to his pseudonym, Harry Caine. If he can’t direct films he can only survive with the idea that Mateo Blanco died on Lanzarote with his beloved Lena. In the present day, Harry Caine lives thanks to the scripts he writes and to the help he gets from his faithful former production manager, Judit García, and from Diego, her son, his secretary, typist and guide. Since he decided to live and tell stories, Harry is an active, attractive blind man who has developed all his other senses in order to enjoy life, on a basis of irony and self-induced amnesia. He has erased from his biography any trace of his first identity, Mateo Blanco. One night Diego has an accident and Harry takes care of him (his mother, Judit, is out of Madrid and they decide not to tell her anything so as not to alarm her). During the first nights of his convalescence, Diego asks him about the time when he answered to the name of Mateo Blanco, after a moment of astonishment Harry can’t refuse and he tells Diego what happened fourteen years before with the idea of entertaining him, just as a father tells his little child a story so that he’ll fall asleep. The story of Mateo, Lena, Judit and Ernesto Martel is a story of “amour fou”, dominated by fatality, jealously, the abuse of power, treachery and a guilt complex. A moving and terrible story, the most expressive image of which is the photo of two lovers embracing, torn into a thousand pieces. “Held together by the extraordinary force of Almodóvar’s cinematic personality.”-Variety. “Penelope Cruz with Almodóvar makes Broken Embraces soar. She has never been more luminous, serious or sexy.”-Time. 127 min., Rated R.

I have to say… meh. As always, the colors are perfect, the design is flawless and fall in love cinematography is present. The Audrey Hepburn homage is my favorite. I disagree with the story choice though. I feel like we got a happy ending with the remaining 7 minutes of the movie that felt like Almodóvar. What this movie does is put me in the mood for an Almodóvar marathon.

This. Is. Awesome.

Told you amazing things are on the horizon!!

Who Got to meet THE PRESIDENT?

PCA got to meet THE PRESIDENT! I’ll post the pics as we get them…

Roni Horn aka Roni Horn @ The Whitney

I love this show! Roni is dark and brilliant and ambidextrous. Some of my favorites are the mischievously appealing red ant farm, the River Thames pictures with notations and the clowns.

“Roni Horn aka Roni Horn” November 6, 2009-January 24, 2010
For more than thirty years, Roni Horn (b. 1955) has been developing work of concentrated visual power and intellectual rigor, often exploring issues of gender, identity, androgyny, and the complex relationship between object and subject. Because the artist chooses not to privilege any one medium, Horn’s art defies easy categorization. Materials – often used with remarkable virtuosity and sensitivity – take on metaphorical qualities and relate key themes with great visual power. Horn’s interest in doubling and identity, for example, is central to understanding her approach to the genres of portraiture and landscape. Image-specific photographic portraits and ethereally beautiful abstract cast glass sculpture relay aspects of both. Similarly, Horn’s intricately cut and pigmented drawings suggest something of the elemental nature of the earth that relates in turn to how the landscape of Iceland, where Horn has traveled and made work since 1975, has informed her practice.
Jointly organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art and Tate Modern, Roni Horn aka Roni Horn is the most comprehensive overview of Roni Horn’s work to date.  The curators, who are working in close collaboration with Horn, are the Whitney’s Chief Curator and Associate Director for Programs Donna De Salvo and curator of drawings Carter E. Foster, and Mark Godfrey, curator at Tate Modern.  Following the Whitney’s presentation, it travels to The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, where it will be on view from February 19 to June 13, 2010.

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Such imperfect awesomeness! Whoever did sound doesn’t know hip-hop and poor Jay-Z got slammed with echo. A serious hat-tip to him, he was able to continue through it and then Alicia Keys opened up her awesomeness and totally saved it while they fixed sound. The only thing better is the player’s faces of awe. Oh yeah, and the entire Bronx crowd knows all the lyrics to the chorus! In NEEWWW YOOOORK!

Brunello Cucinelli

Saks put on an event for the Brunello Cucinelli line and it partnered with the Henry Street Settlement. The models from his site were there looking stunning in earthy tones. Brunello is a kind and intelligent soul. He is an artist and a renaissance man.
I learned about the Henry Street Settlement. Both women I met have been with the organization for decades.
I also met an interesting hospital VP (?) who volunteered his medical services for them and he was very impressed with their organization.

NYC Halloween Parade 2009

Emon Hassan took some fantastic pictures:

New Chanel!

My roommate and I went to Vanity Fair’s Chanel event at Saks named “Fragrances & Florals: A Presentation of Les Exclusifs de Chanel Fragrance Collection” with Eden McCracken, Chanel Fragrance Expert and Meredith Wanga Perez, Founder & Creative Director of Belle Fleur.

The room was done nicely with beautiful bouquets and the champagne was flowing. We were introduced to the base scents first then the Chanel fragrances that went with them. I discovered a new favorite sent in tuberose and sampled iris, hawthorn, gardenia and green grass. I thought the green grass was off as I associate the smell more with Demeter’s version.

The new fragrances we sampled were: No. 22, Bel Respiro, Gardenia, La Pausa, and Beige. I like Beige the most but not the name. I associate beige with drab and conformist.

It was a nice presentation and the swag bag was great.

WFMU Record Fair is here!

$7 to get in

Coney Island 1905

LOST Spoiler Time Has Begun Again…

I love spoilers and theories! This one’s from patidifuso on LiveJournal

I can now reveal the following:
Jacob has a child and it’s one of the people below:

Jack, Sawyer, Kate, Juliet, Hurley, Locke, Michael, Bram, Desmond, Caesar, Illana, Ben, Richard Alpert, Sayid

I actually vote for Juliet. They’re both blond and she was the only one with a flashback where Jacob didn’t appear and touch her in “The Indicent”.

Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is!

I happened upon this cd at my favorite used cd shop, Last Vestige’s blues section. Never heard of him but it’s new and it’s put out by Lost Highway. I fell in love in within minutes! He is the love child of old Stax and Motown.

Tell `Em What Your Name Is!, the debut album from Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears is set for release by Lost Highway on March 17. Formed in Austin, TX, Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears is an eight-piece, garage-soul ensemble featuring groove-laden guitars, penetrating brass and a fiery frontman who exudes power and attitude. Experiencing the raw energy of Black Joe’s performances, accompanied by The Honeybears’ masterful backing is the equivalent of a kick to the stomach. Their gut-shot style, felt in such songs as “Gunpowder”, “Master Sold My Baby” and “I’m Broke”, draws directly from their classic soul, R&B and blues influences. Inspiration from artists such as Otis Redding and The Bar-Kays, James Brown and Lightning Hopkins are clearly present in their songs and live shows, but Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears inject a full-tilt, unabashedly brash element to this old-school style.

Tell `Em What Your Name Is! was produced by Jim Eno of Spoon, and recorded, mostly live in the studio, in Austin, TX.

UPDATE:  They’re ON TOUR http://www.blackjoelewis.com/tour/ and will be in NYC on the 25th!

The Death of AutoTune

Moment of silence…

I LOVE THIS VIDEO. Jay-Z announces the death of autotune and all the commercial fakery that comes with it, eats and gambles at Rao’s (best red sauce. period.), plays b-ball with LeBron James, and gives love to Brooklyn. How is it possible not to love Jay-Z? Yes, he’s commercial. But at least he’s got the ear and the talent to back it up.

Also, get the iTunes Deluxe version of this with videos and other goodies.

POOCHALINA is OK

NEWS UPDATE: Pebbles my God-Dog has recovered from surgery and is doing fantastically and is on her way to a full recovery. A dog-run tumble ruptured her left anterior cruciate ligament and went to the doc yesterday.

She is a pitbull mix rescue of 8 years young. She is the sweetest, smartest awesomest dog in all New York. She goes everywhere with Darrick because she is so obedient and well trained (no leash needed but he brings it in case of the fuzz). She is a model pooch and the debutant of her neighborhood.

Goddamn Gallows Coming to Brooklyn!

10/18/09 at 8 PM at Club Public Assembly in Williamsburg

’nuff said

Anger is an Appropriate Reaction

SEC’s maddening Madoff fiasco

Bernard Madoff got away with record-breaking investment fraud for far too long because of regulatory incompetence at the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to a shocking and angering report by the agency’s inspector general.

At one point SEC investigators decided against asking the NASDAQ stock market for data on trades Mr. Madoff claimed to have made because it would be too time-consuming to review the data. 

The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus

A fully-functioning, completely mobile music and video studio, the Lennon Bus criss-crosses the country to allow music students, youth groups and amateur musicians to get a high-tech, hands-on recording experience. The idea is to encourage interest in songwriting and production among enthusiasts who would otherwise not have the opportunity to explore their love of music. During Outside Lands, the bus also had a number of high-profile visitors, including members of Black Eyed Peas and Dave Matthews Band.

El SuperBeasto Coming to Theatres September 12, 2009

El SuperBeasto Coming to Theatres September 12, 2009

It Might Get Loud: My Review

It Might Get Loud

YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS MOVIE. If you like rock and roll and worship at the strings of Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White like I do, this is a must see. I got into Led Zeppelin when I was in Jr. High School in the mid-80s along with The Who and The Rolling Stones and all the other masters of the genre but Led Zep always spoke to me on a level that The Beatles did. They formed my opinions of what I liked and how hard I liked it. I can’t imagine growing up without the genius of Jimmy Page. Music was my church and sanity and these were the gods I looked to. I remember in High School U2 really hit it but I was off in metal land listening to bootlegs of Metallica. There was this girl Elana who was totally obsessed with U2 and even though I wasn’t into them, I thought her musical devotion cool as hell and never forgot it. Now The Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum are permanently on my desert island disc list as they completely blow me away.

As for The White Stripes, Get Behind Me Satan is a cd that I can listen to on repeat and love each listen. Jack White is all of my influences wrapped together in his own genius. I remember when I first heard Leadbelly and my search of the roots of rock and roll began.

This is a movie that puts you in the room of the three of them and it’s an honor just to watch it. When Jimmy Page first riffs into “Whole Lotta Love” the jaw-dropping look on Jack White and The Edge’s face is exactly those of us in the audience. Pure awe and worship. My only complaint is that this film isn’t ten hours long. I want to be there. I want to live in that room and hear every thought in their mind.

It’s a joy to see the masters explore their loves and the story of how they grew into who they are. Jimmy Page turns into an air-guitar playing little boy at the listen of Link Wray’s “Rumble”. Hearing him deconstruct its attitude reawakened my love for the song. He describes his album and 45 collection as old friends to visit with and I love that I have the same feeling. When it comes down to it, Jimmy Page is as much of a fanbooy as the rest of us. Watching him play “The Battle of Evermore” on mandolin in front of his castle made me think that his gift is one of thousands of years. 

I GOTTA JOB!! I DID! I DID!

WOO HOO! I’m so happy and relieved I can barely speak! There are so many fantastic things about this that I’m so grateful for. Two friends of mine who work together (one of whom I’ve worked with in the past) recommended me for the Senior Analyst (database) position at an insurance company and I’ve accepted the offer! I can now say that I’m a professional computer geek AND I’m walking into a job where I already have a built-in support system with my friends who are awesome people! I couldn’t have asked for a better situation and I’m over the moon with joy. I will have a steady paycheck ! I will have health insurance! Oh I cannot wait to jay-walk with confidence again! NYC drivers watch out and get outta my way! I love love love working for big companies because they have big internal systems to be awesome to their employees. Everything they’ve said about the place is positive and they’re blessed with a fantastic manager. PINCH ME! To those still looking… RUB MY BELLY!

Scott H. Biram plays Brooklyn

We got to see Scott H. Biram play Union Hall August 6th and it was a fantastic show. The video of my favorite song by him (this week) is Still Drunk, Still Crazy, Still Blue is here:

Kitty at My Foot and I Wanna Touch It…

My friend’s nephew brought home an abandoned 3ish-week-old kitten named Poe. I call him Edgar and he has my heart.

Rob Zombie at Comic Con!

Hank III Live!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009 at Toad’s Place in New Haven, CT &
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn NYC

WHADDA SHOW! The energy was off the charts! Lucky Tubb and the Modern Day Troubadours were fantastic! It’s a testament of how talented all of these musicians are to be so good so often. Every show since my first Hank III experience at the Knitting Factory in 2005 I say it’s the best show I’ve ever seen. Last tour I got to meet and hang with him, Joe Coleman and Bob Tyrrell on the tour bus. I can’t really see it getting any better than that. This tour brought the heat.

Happy July 4th Everybody!

Rest in Peace Michael

A child prodigy is a one who masters one or more skills or arts at an early age. One heuristic for classifying prodigies is: a prodigy is a child, typically younger than 13 years old, who is performing at the level of a highly trained adult in a very demanding field of endeavor. (Wiki)

I Want This T-Shirt

There was a guy in line at the Brooklyn Hip-Hop
Festival wearing this t-shirt . When I asked
him where he got it, he said “Think Geek“.

Does Schrödinger’s Cat Live?

Twisted up in Schrödinger’s uncertainty thought experiment, this historical kitty has been put through a quantum ringer that nobody should have to experience. After all it’s tough work being both alive and dead simultaneously. Every student of physics knows that Schrödinger’s 1935 paper regarding a hypothetical paradox involving a cat has perplexed and annoyed physics geeks for years. The basic idea; If the outcome of a circumstance is presently unknown and by observing the circumstance you will disrupt it, then it exists in all possible states simultaneously… Simple! At least to quantum physicists with massive craniums. And hey eventually this principle will seem commonplace, but by then our highways will connect galaxies and shirts like this will be so utterly obvious that they’ll likely be dish rags.

Don’t get it? We propose the following thought experiment:

Time Out NY Quiz

DO YOU BELONG IN NYC?
Absolutely.
You would never dream of moving anywhere else, and we’ve insulted you by even suggesting you might leave. You love every single thing about this town, right down to its adorable water-bug infestation. Click here for suggestions about how to really enjoy NYC.

Do you belong in New York City?

The .357 String Band Minus Jayke

Dude what the hell? I just read on Jayke’s blog that The .357 String Band gave him the boot. “for the record, the discussion of dropping me like a groupie was done behind close doors and absolutely behind my back. the conversation was 2 minutes long, and one minute of that was me thinking they were joking.”
We were lucky enough to catch their set when they opened for Joe Buck and they wound up crashing at my place after the gig. (Band photo in front of my apartment with Jayke far right) It was a joy to be cool enough to host musicians and Jayke and I got a chance to get to know each other on the supermarket breakfast run. He’s a hell of a nice guy who is devoted to his band, art and music. I have both their cds and they are absolutely worth the purchase.
I hope nothing but the best for the band and I look forward to following Jayke’s musical career as this is in no way the end of opportunities that await him. He’s immensely talented and gorgeous and sweet. I wish him success and happiness.

SAVE LUCKY 13!

COME ON METAL HEADS! This is the only METAL bar in Brooklyn! They even got an autographed Hank III poster!
This place is cool! We can’t let it die. WE JUST CAN’T! I’m just gonna bring my change bucket and drink ’til it’s empty.

Job Fairs Suck My Soul Dry

Look. I try to be positive. I do. But the longer I’m unemployed, the harder it is. And I know it’s the economy and I know this is a monumentally BAD time in the job market, but that doesn’t make me feel less of a loser and bump on the log of society. I’ve sent out zillions of resumes into the ether and it’s so bad that I actually get psyched when I get a rejection letter because that at least means someone looked at my application before rejecting me.

I try new ideas. I’ll try anything at this point. I NEED A JOB.

Summer Shows 2009

Thurs. June 4th = 6 Day Bender @ Hank’s Saloon here in Brooklyn (FREE)
Sat. June 20th = Dead Prez @ Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival ($10)
Tue. June 23rd = Hank III & Assjack w/Lucky Tubb & The Modern Day Troubadours @ Toad’s Place in New Haven, CT ($20)
Wed. June 24th = Hank III & Assjack w/Lucky Tubb & The Modern Day Troubadours @ Music Hall of Williamsburg here in Brooklyn ($20)
Sat. June 27th & Sun. June 28th = Dave Brubeck Quartet, Saratoga Jazz Festival @ SPAC in Saratoga Springs, NY ($40 each day)
Thu. August 6th = Scott H Biram @ Union Hall here in Brooklyn

Fri. October 23 – Sunday Oct. 25th = WFMU Record Fair (dude, it’s Christmas in October!)

* Every Sunday is the African Drumming Circle at Drummer’s Grove in Prospect Park, Brooklyn (FREE)

*** If there are any shows that you know of that I’ll like and that are free or cheap, lemmie know by shooting me an email at gillian dot grey at yahoo dot com

Wayne “The Train” Hancock plays Brooklyn

Last night at Jalopy in Red Hook, Wayne Hancock and his band played one hellofa gig. We sang and danced in the isles! He did new songs and old songs and fun songs and sad songs. The place was full which is always good to see since I don’t much associate juke joint swing with Brooklyn.

The band was tight had fun with the gig. Bob Hoffnar on steel guitar was the obvious yankee and so talented. James Hunnicutt has stepped in just fine on one of the most beautiful guitars I’ve ever seen. And I can’t for the life of me remember the stand up bass player (Huck?!), that was the hugest bass I’ve ever seen in my life!

Wayne was in a goofy mood and pretty much played whatever the crowd asked him to. I’m glad I’ve been introduced to his music since two of my favorite Hank III songs are written by him.

I’ll absolutely be there next time he comes to town and the times after that.

Tweeets in Spaaaaace!

Astronaut Mike Massimino, currently in orbit on space shuttle Atlantis, is better known in the Twitterverse as Astro_Mike. More than 300,000 Twitter users follow his updates, which began last month as chronicles of his preparation for liftoff. Since Atlantis lifted off a week ago, Massimino has continuously tweeted about the beautiful views from space and, most recently, how difficult it was to sleep after an epic spacewalk. But how does he access Twitter 350 miles (550 kilometers) above Earth? NASA spokesperson James Hartsfield of the Johnson Space Center in Houston says that support staff on the ground post updates on Twitter that Massimino sends them from a laptop aboard the shuttle. By John Matson

My favorite tweets include:
From orbit: Eating chocolates in space, floating then in front of me then floating and eating them like I am a fish
From orbit: Getting ready for bed, sleeping in space is cool, tie down your sleeping bag and float inside of it, very relaxing

Puppy in tha hood

My neighbor, Eric Rochow, is a cook, gardener, handyman, host of Real World Green & Gardenfork TV. He’s an interesting guy to follow on Twitter and he’s part of the Ford Fiesta Movement. (I don’t think there’s much he doesn’t do.)  My favorite reason for him being our neighbor are his beautiful Labradors. There’s now a new puppy in the hood and we’re all falling over ourselves with cuteness updates:

Product Review: JVC NX-PN7 iPod/iPhone Audio System

When my iPod alarm clock (iHome iH5BR) died because the dials no longer worked, I headed over to the Circuit City liquidation sale at Flatbush & Atlantic. (I should mention that I first tried Target but their shelves were empty as usual and the dissapointment at them rages on.) This was the only clock radio that had what I’m looking for with a sticker that prominently said “Works with iPhone”. I asked the salesman if there were any other parts or cords to the unit. He rolled his eyes at me and gave an exasperated “no” like I’m an idiot. No wonder your company is going out of business, your staff sucks. I kick myself for buying it at CC because there are absolutely no refunds or exchanges so I’m stuck with it and don’t have the money to get something else.

Yeah dude, explain me this…

I still have the Hurley/Miles time travel discussion warbling around in my head.

I should probably hold off on yammering about this since the LOST season finale is next week and I’m pretty sure my head’s gonna explode. So what’s the dealio? Parallel universes getting all weaved together and our ragtag bunch is gonna save us? Huh? Will Jack push the button? THE BIG RED SHINY BUTTON?

UPDATE: Yeah…so… I was totally wrong on the whole LOST season finale theory but this scene still kicks butt so I’m not gonna delete the post. You might also want to check out the Rules for Time Travelers at Discover Magazine. It’s schuper interesting.

The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia: My Review

The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia, directed by Julien Nitzberg. (USA) – World Premiere, Documentary. Shoot-outs, robberies, gas-huffing, drug dealing, pill popping, murders, and tap dancing — what do these all have in common? The White Family. From executive producers Johnny Knoxville and Jeff Tremaine comes a shocking portrait of Boone County, West Virginia’s most notorious and surly family. Nitzberg spends a year with multiple generations of the White family in this outlandish doc featuring the family’s dancing muse, Jesco White (star of the cult classic documentary Dancing Outlaw).

“The legend of D Ray White will never die like a rebel yell” – Hank III

Einstein said…

‘A human being is a part of the whole universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a prison, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.’ Albert Einstein, ‘What I believe’, Forum and Century issue 84 (1930)

News Update

Scott H. Biram – From Twang Nation 3/6/09: Our thoughts go out to Texas’ own ‘Dirty Old One Man Band’ Scott H Biram who after his last show in Europe suffered a compound fracture in the leg he uses on the his stomp board during performance. He is currently in a French hospital after surgery to implant yet another titanium rod in his leg (where another already exists due to a run in with a Semi a few years back.) It looks like he will be put on a plane home Saturday and can then heal in the good ole USA where its home but where insurance and reasonably priced medical care aren’t available to musicians. Go help the boy out and buy some of his CDs and swag! UPDATE: He is OK and back on tour.

Unknown Hinson – He’s jammed with the Rolling Stones, is preparing for a tour where he’ll play guitar with Billy Bob Thornton and open for Willie Nelson. He’s been hailed by Tom Petty, and Hank III and he’s ON TOUR

Gigs I Wanna See: Rachel Brooke

You can keep your Carrie Underwoods, your Taylor Swifts, your Jewels and your Jessica Simpsons… I’ll take a beer and another song by Michigan’s Rachel Brooke. (hat tip to Twang Nation) Here’s her cover of Hank Williams “Old Log Train”

Paradise

OK Mother Nature, I see what you’re capable of. Now may we have some warm weather so we can build perfect flower boxes and make my friend’s deck a slice of heaven again?

It’s TAX TIME! (time for Slayer)

Here’s a good life tip: Whenever you have tax forms or financial statements to fill out so politicians and/or banking industry executives can take the last pennies from your pithy earnings to bail out their bloated over-compensated asses, listen to SLAYER. It helps.

2009 World Science Festival in NYC

worldsciencefestival.com

It’s the moost wonderful time of the yeear! June 10-14

“Among those who have already committed to join us are: Nobel Prize-winning scientists James Watson, Harold Varmus, David Gross, Frank Wilczek, Sir Paul Nurse and William Phillips; renowned authors Bill McKibben and Irene Pepperberg; esteemed researchers E.O. Wilson, James Hansen, Daniel Wegner, Erich Jarvis, Daniel Levitin and Margaret Livingstone; and acclaimed artists Alan Alda, Marin Alsop, and Anna Deavere Smith.” (copied from the official blog)

I’ve already put in a request for a press pass and if that don’t fly, I also requested to be a volunteer.

Get your geek on and join us!

Gigs I Wanna See: Scott H. Biram

I don’t make a habit of linking to CMT because they leave the same bad taste in my mouth that MTV, VH-1 & BET do. That said, WOO HOO!! Scott H. Biram is coming out with a new cd on May 19th!

Scott H. Biram, “Still Drunk, Still Crazy, Still Blue” (from the CD, “Something’s Wrong/Lost Forever” due May 19): Like a one-man Sex Pistols of alt-country, Texan Scott Biram is a take-no-prisoners, hell-bent, raging musical evangelist. Read the title of this song and you know just what you have in store, and it’s well worth it. Mostly Biram accompanies himself on a Gibson hollow-body guitar — often distorted — along with harmonica and electrified foot stomp board to fuel his musical rampages through a gothic landscape. He is sometimes great and scary at the same time. Good for him. Is there still room on the musical landscape for such a maverick? I think there may actually be more room these days, given the different avenues for an artist to reach the listener, apart from the traditional record label to record store route.

Looking at his website for dates, he’s playing Union Hall here in Brooklyn on Thursday, August 6th.

SevenTEEN months

Now that we’ve got the introduction out of the way, I’ll begin gas-bagging it. WHERE IS HANK III? Seriously. The last show we saw was 17 months ago. Do you know what that’s like for a fan that thinks he’s the sun moon and stars? I hope everything is well on his end and things work out to get him up here doing what he does best…soon.

U P D A T E :

Tour dates are now posted on his website! We’re going to see the gig at Toad’s Place in New Haven, CT on June 23rd and then here in Brooklyn at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on June 24th!

Opening will be Lucky Tubb & The Modern Day Troubadours (schweeet!)

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

greetings and salutations

Hello…out…there.

Do I want to be a blogger? I’m the kind of person who winces at the word. I picture someone who thinks others actually hang on their every thought. To the blogosphere’s defense, I have found some that elevate the conversation that’s happening. I’m on Twitter and am blown away by the frequency of my tweets. It’s as if I’m unemployed and on the couch all day with my laptop wearing sweats and moose-head slippers. This has to change. Winter has been cold and icky but once nice weather hits, I’m going to live more of my life outside. Last summer was pretty fun. The immediate stress of losing my job wasn’t too bad because after my company’s reorganization, my position became a painful death sentence only to feel the sweet release of death via the axe. The upside of being so plugged in is I now have amazing amounts of useless information about celebrities and my neighbors. What I find most interesting is the frequency of tweets of successful people. They have their finger on the pulse and are tweeting about it. Problem is, none of us are making any money. I would be liberal and say few but let’s face it folks, it sucks out there. I’m hustling for gigs that pay 60% less than my pre-recession rate. My plan is to pursue my interests and go after the fields that I can work for less with in order to be in position with the thought leaders as we figure out the new economy.

So this is what it is. I’ll just blurt out whatever I’m thinking and you’ll hang on every word.

Thanks.

G.