Come and join us in the trenches

The last couple of weeks have been busy but fun for me. Went to the Walkmen/Dodos show on the 16th which was EPIC! I'd never seen either band live and rarely do I go to a show where all the acts put on a great performance. Earfarm took some great photos which you can check out here and here. And if you don't have Visitor or You & Me you really should get them, like yesterday.

We had our work holiday party a couple of weeks ago and it was a blast. A lot of pictures were taken.

The rest you can find on my flickr.

My mom is in town for Christmas and so far I think she's having a good time. We saw the Rockerfeller tree the day after she got in town. Afterwards we rushed over to Katz's Deli to get pastrami sandwiches before they closed. It's a Christmas tradition!

Christmas morning we went to church. Afterwards, we drove around looking for Captain Morgan. Couldn't find any in the stores that were open so we settled for Rasberry and Strawberry Smirnoffs. Had breakfast at Aunt Angelas where I was forced to watch the Yule Log. What's the big woop about that thing anyway?

Headed back to Aunt Angelas for dinner later in that day. Ate lots and lots of food, watched "A Christmas Story," hung out with the cousins and had a wicked tissue paper fight!

On Saturday, we went to the annual Christmas dance that my Aunt's church puts on. It was fun as always. We got dressed up, took lots of pictures, ate a lot of food and sweat out our clothes and hair from jumping up and down to the Vision Band. Proof below.

For New Years, my cousins and are are going to White Plains to a bar and hanging out there until about 11:30. Then we'll head on out to see the ball drop. White Plains does their own ball drop. I would never go back into the craziness that is Times Square on New Years. The out of towners can have that. Anywho, I hope that you and yours have a fantastic New Years Eve and I wish everyone the best for '09. Make it count!

I couldn't speak except to say how gorgeous that I thought you were to me

Beth Ditto has new hair and it looks amazing!

What do you think I am or do you think at all?

I saw Snowden at Mercury Lounge on the 3rd. Photos here. Their new songs sound awesome and I'm looking forward to their next record.

Christmas is around the corner and we've yet to do the necessary shopping. I'm afraid we're gonna be at the Galleria at 8 pm on Christmas Eve. Oh yeah and covering everything in tissue paper and putting them in bags til 1 in the morning. When will we learn?

I'm looking forward to the Walkmen/Dodos show on Tuesday night. Should be pretty wicked, especially since EVERYONE is going.

When I was in Atlanta, I saw Milk with Will and it was phenomenal. Looks like Sean Penn will easily pick up Best Actor nominations for all the major awards. Global Globe nominations were recently announced and of course he's nominated in that category. Thankfully, Heath Ledger is nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category so voters won't have to choose between him and Sean Penn. I definitely want to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Revolutionary Road and The Wrestler in the near future. All of those movies are nominated. I finally saw Four Minutes the other night and it was as good as I thought it would be.

Randomness over.

Comfy Cosey

Helena Bonham Carter must be so comfortable all the time. I'm jealous.

I can't help it

I saw my last Duke Spirit show of the year (at least I think it will be the last one) last night at the 40 Watt in Athens. They were brilliant as always. And for it being a rainy Saturday night during Thanksgiving weekend, there was a pretty good turn out. In addition to all of the gems they usually play, they also played "Echo Song" which is a b-side from Neptune (only way us US kids can get it is on import). You can listen to it on their MySpace page.

Besides putting out great records, The Duke Spirit also put on a great live show. Liela's voice is flawless and their sound is solid. I admire their endurance. They've been touring practically non stop since February and I've yet to see a mediocre performance out of them. They give 100% every time.

I also appreciate that they're so grateful to crazy fans like me who have seen them loads of times. They're such sweet people and I hope the rest of this year and next are extremely good to them. They deserve it.




More photos here.

I also took a few pictures of Eulogies, one of the opening bands. Check them out, they were really good.

The Duke Spirit is playing Matt Pinfield's Holiday Extravaganza show for 101.9 RXP on the 9th (a few other bands are playing including the Ting Tings) but it's sold out so I can't go. Bummers :( The station is giving away tickets to the show so maybe I'll try my luck there. If you'd like to enter the contest sign up here. The band is also playing David Letterman Letterman on December 8th

For those of you who don't live in NY, 101.9 RXP is a relatively new station. I believe that 101.9 was previously a smooth jazz station. It became The New York Rock Experience in February of this year.

Being from Atlanta, I grew up listening to 99x. Sitting in my room on Saturday mornings and listening to the countdown; laughing uncontroably to "The Morning X with Barnes, Leslie and Jimmy"; "The House of Retro Pleasure" (aka "Duplex of Retro Pleasure" aka "The Retroplex") with Steve Craig where I heard Echo and the Bunnymen for the first time. Thanks to 99x, my friend Stephanie won front row seats to see The Smashing Pumpkins at the Fox Theater, which was pretty major for a pair of 16 year old girls that were in love with them. I loved their Live X CDs, how they'd throw out shirts into the crowd during local shows and all the rad stuff that I got with my Freeloaders card.

As we all know, people don't listen to radio as much as they used to, thanks to internet radio, satellite radio, downloading, mp3 blogs, and a whole heap of other things. And unfortunately, 99x suffered from that. On January 25, 2008 99x stopped broadcasting on 99.7. They last song that was played was Green Day's "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)". While 99x now exist solely on the internet, it's not the same. When I came home in April and realized that I could no longer hear Steve Craig's voice at 1 in the afternoon talking about a great Altered Images song, I was crushed. Listening to The Retroplex was always one of my favorite things about coming home.

Former 99x DJ Sean Demery wrote an amazing post about the history of the station in his blog back in January. It was really interesting reading about how the station came to be and how it evolved, becoming probably the best rock station in the south.

In June of this year, Leslie Fram became the Program Director at 101.9 RXP. She also co-hosts the Morning Drive with Matt Pinfield. Leslie is kind of a legend in Atlanta and a lot of people credit her with giving them their start in music, whether it be supporting their band when others wouldn't or giving them a shot in radio. RXP has the potential to be a great station and it will certainly grow and prosper under Leslie's guidance. Steve Craig, another 99x alum also accepted a position at RXP. He's currently the midday host.

RXP promises not to rely on corporate playlists. I often wonder if bands I listen to would break out and become huge if they were only getting airplay on major radio stations. It's really hard to say. But if RXP truly does intend on playing good, new music, things may just change. I guess only time will tell. But it seems as though they're intent on doing things differently. And hopefully, that will make all the difference.

There's a world outside your window

They've been playing Holiday music on most stations for the past two weeks now, which is kind of annoying considering it's not even Thanksgiving yet. But there's one song that I don't mind hearing at this time of year.

Blue star, shine your light

When I was in college, I met a really cool girl named Melina. Melina and I shared a mutual friend, Elena. Elena and I went to the same high school and Melina had gone to school with Elena's sister. Elena was a year ahead of me in school but it just so happened that we ended up at the same college and living in the same dorm. Even though Melina and I both knew Elena, we probably wouldn't have become good friends had I not taped pictures of one of my favorite bands to my dormroom door. That band was the Deftones. Turned out Melina was a big Deftones fan as well and after meeting her, I had someone to share my 'tones obsession with.

I have so many great Deftones memories from over the years including the first time I saw them at Ozzfest in 1999; the time I caught Abe's drum stick when he threw them up into the air at their Tabernacle show in 2000; the time Melina and I bought tickets off a classmate for the sold out Big Day Out concert, praying that we'd get to hear "Back to School" live for the first time (which we did); the time we FINALLY heard "The Chauffeur" live after begging them forever to play it live; and the time we got to hang out with them one awesome night in Fort Mill South Carolina, making us the happiest girls ever in life.

While the Deftones are an incredibly talented band, one of the best things about them has always been their bass player Chi Cheng. I was fortunate to meet Chi on a few different occasions and he was always humble, incredibly kind and really appreciatve of the opportunity to play music for his fans. I remember one particular day in November of 2000 when Melina and I went up to Atlanta for a Deftones show at International Ballroom. Because we were super fans, we arrived at the venue really early (11 am to be exact) so that we could be one of the first people inside when the doors opened later that night. To our surprise, we weren't even the first ones there. A 16 year old kid from Alabama had made it there first. We thought, "Wow, how early did this kid have to get up to drive to Georgia from Alabama to make it there before 11 am?" We knew he had to be a big fan.

The weather was terrible that day. It was cold and rained on and off all day. While Melina and I had hoodies that kept us pretty warm, this 16 year old kid didn't have a jacket or anything and we felt really bad for him.

As the day went on we spotted a few members from the opening bands walking around and chatted and talked with them. But the highlight was definitely when members of the Deftones came out to talk to fans. Now Melina and I used to ask Chi questions on the Deftones messageboard pretty frequently. And somehow, with the hundreds of questions people would ask him, he would always answer ours. When we met him, he remembered the questions that we asked and we thought, "Wow, here's this big rockstar who actually knows who we are." And that felt really cool. Talking to Chi about music, politics and Buddhism, you could tell that he was really well informed about so many things and topics. But what came across the most about Chi that day was his kindness. When he saw that the 16 year old kid who had been waiting there all day was shivering because he didn't have a jacket on, he went onto the bus and gave the kid HIS jacket. I was truly amazed. Most regular people wouldn't have done that much less a rockstar. If we didn't know before, we definitely knew then that Chi wasn't just a rockstar. He was a good person too.

I mention all of this because a few weeks ago on November 3, Chi was involved in a really terrible car accident. His mother, Jeanne, has been updating the Deftones blog with Chi's condition. He's in a coma. While he's stable, his condition is obviously very serious. I pray for him every night. It's so funny how you can feel so connected to a band because of all of the times you've listened to their CD or how many times you've seen them in concert or all of the posters you have of them hanging in your room (I still have a little Deftones corner in my room in Atlanta). However, when you've met them and see what good people they are, it makes it even more difficult to hear when something horrible happens to them.

Luckily for Chi, he has a lot of people pulling for him between his band mates, his family & friends and his millions of fans. I also know that his will is strong and that he will fight to get better. So I ask you, if you pray, pray for Chi. And if you don't pray, send some good thoughts his way. If anyone else were in his position, I know that Chi would gladly do the same.

Melina and Chi in 2000

So caught up in my lone communion

I'm so glad that I decided to get a ticket to see The Duke Spirit at Center Stage last night. As always they put on an incredible show and left me anxiously awaiting their headlining show in Athens next week.

I arrived at the venue probably 5 minutes before 8. The doors opened about 10 minutes later. Once I was inside I remembered that I'd been there before (when it was called Earthlink Live) back in 2002. I saw Kittie, Chimaira, Ill Nino and No One there. Now if you know me, you'll know that every time I've seen Kittie play live, something has happened to me. I always get hurt. This show was no exception. While some kid was crowd surfing, I tried to push him away from me as he was coming and my arm buckled and came out of its socket. Worst. Pain. Ever. It popped back into place after hanging there for a while, but it hurt like hell. Thankfully, I sustained no injuries at last night's show for which I am extremely grateful.

I talked to a very nice security guard while waiting for the show to start. Maybe he felt bad because I was by myself. As it got closer to 9, I got more and more excited of course. The band finally came out a little after 9 to "I Do Believe" and then plunged into "Send A Little Love Token". They're sticking to a set for this tour with Eagles of Death Metal so they played the same songs they played at Music Hall of Williamsburg last Sunday (I saw the setlist). Liela was in great form, very energetic and chatting with the crowd and being her usual charming self. I loved that they played to such an enthusiastic crowd. Sometimes, the crowds in New York just seem so over everything. But Atlanta crowds rarely act like they're too cool to have a good time and I really appreciate that. I'm sure the bands do as well.

Highlights for me were of course "Hello to the Floor," "Dog Roses," "Red Weather" and "Love Is an Unfamiliar Name." It's so good to hear older stuff as you tend to hear less and less of it with the more albums that a band puts out. Of course my favorite song from Neptune, This Ship Was Built to Last, sounded epic and Liela glanced over at me and smiled as I sang along. They closed with "Cuts Across the Land" which is another good oldie and you could tell that they left everyone who hadn't heard them before impressed.

I sat out in the lobby for awhile afterward and watched some of Eagles of Death Metal on the TV screens behind the bar. Then I decided to take off since unlike New York, the trains here stop running around midnight. As I was walking to the train station who should be coming from the other side of the street but Olly Bets, the Duke's drummer. When he crossed over to my side I told him how awesome they were and that this was my 6th time seeing them this year. For those of you keeping score at home I saw them twice in February at Mercury Lounge and Union Hall, twice in April at Bowery Ballroom and the 40 Watt (when they opened for Black Rebel), and once over the summer when they did that instore at the Apple Soho store (see picture)

Anywho, Olly couldn't believe that I'd see them so many times this year but he seemed genuinely appreciative so that was cool. I told him that I was going to their show at 40 Watt next week and I'm so looking forward to it. If you're not doing anything on the 29th, you should definitely go up to Athens and check out the show. It's a headling gig for them so I'm hoping that they'll pull out some gems that I haven't heard live before, like "Scratching Around," "This Heart Is A Lonely Hunter," or "A Wild Hope."

I took a few pictures at the show and I'm happy to say that a loto f them came out looking great. I think I finally found the perfect "show" setting on my camera, so that's cool.




More photos here.

Don't you think that you'd like to stay with me too

While I got off to a not so great start this morning (I woke up an hour late but still managed to make it to work earlier than most days, go figure!) today was pretty good. Work was fun, I got home around 9, had dinner, watched some tv and imported some CDs into my iTunes. Still need to pick up a few records that have come out in recent weeks and will probably do that on Friday when I'm back home in Atlanta.

So I wish I was one of those girls that could just wear something fabulous every day. But I just don't have the energy. Or don't know how to make it seem effortless. Or just don't try. Usually I can have a cool outfit or good hair. But not both at the same time. There's a girl who post in Newest Wrinkle that can do both. Zana posts pictures of her outfits every now and then and I'm AMAZED at how put together she looks in every single photo. She posted some photos today and everything she's wearing looks fantastic. I'm never sure of when to wear a necklace or not. Or what shoes are best. I've bought a TON of shoes this year (including Jeffery Campbell oxfords, Steve Madden boots (tall and short) and Nine West 4 inch oxfords (in black and brown). But so far I've only worn the tall Steve Madden boots once and the Nine West black oxfords once. What am I saving the rest for?

I know a lot of it has to do with comfort. It's SOO easy to slip on a pair of sneakers and go. But most new shoes hurt, especially if there's a heel or you have wide feet like me. However, I have to remember that my favorite pair of boots (which now have holes in them and need to be taken to the shoe repair shop next to work pronto - they apparently work miracles there) were really uncomfortable at first, too. As were the Urban boots that I've been wearing a lot lately. It's important to break them in first and then you can practically live in them.

Nubby and Gala are two other girls whose styles I admire. Gala actually wrote a post called "What Should I Wear" today which is kind of a funny coincidence. Perhaps it would help me if I took a picture of my outfit every day. Then I'd be forced to put together something worth taking a picture of. Is that the trick? I've gotta find a balance of comfort and style. I'll work on it and get back to you.

In other news, I am SO in love with this song by Cut Off Your Hands called "Oh Girl". This band is from New Zealand and they remind me a lot of The Smiths. Yeah, I said it. They're THAT good. I'm sad that I missed them during CMJ but I'm sure they'll be back in NYC next year

Georgia, take me to the seeeeeaaaaaaaaaa

My room is a mess. I'm trying to start packing for my trip to Atlanta but I can't really find the motivation. I'm just exhausted. I've been tired all day (maybe not enough sleep last night) and never did catch my second or even first wind. Hoping that I'll get a nice nights rest tonight.

I'm missing The Duke Spirit tonight and it's killing me a little inside. They opened for Eagles of Death Metal tonight at Bowery but the show sold out before I could get tickets. While I'll be seeing them twice when I'm back home in Georgia, I always feel odd not seeing them when they play in the city. Like I'm a bad fan or something. They played MHOW last night but as most of you know Brooklyn shows are rough for me unless I have a place nearby to crash afterwards. With as far uptown as I am, train rides too late at night can take FOREVER.

On Friday, I'm seeing Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson at Drunken Unicorn which I'm looking forward to. Seeing The Duke Spirit and Eagles of Death Metal on Saturday at Center Stage. Feel kind of bad that I'm missing Snowden on the 29th at The Earl (The Duke Spirit is headlining a show in Athens at the 40 Watt on that night and I just can't miss a Duke Spirit headlining show as I haven't seen one of those since February) but I will most likely be seeing them on the 3rd at Mercury Lounge anyway, even if I have to go alone.

I finally got to see Rival Schools in the last few weeks. Saw them at the Knitting Factory at the Brooklyn Vegan Showcase during CMJ and then at Mercury Lounge on the 6th. Both shows were amazing and they sound phenominal. I can't wait for the new record. The King Left was one of the openers at the Mercury Lounge show and they were great to watch. They totally rock out and sounded like 1000 times more amazing than when I saw them open for Snowden last year at Maxwell's.


To check out the pictures I took at Knitting Factory, visit my flickr.

I also saw Jaguar Love on Halloween at Mercury Lounge. It was pretty cool seeing J on stage again and he is a maniac on the drums. Also Johnny Whitney's voice is remarkable. I mean, how does he do it? The crowd loved Johnny and the rest of the boys and I was glad that I got to see them play.

Now that it's well past my bedtime, I think I'll hit the sack. I leave you with this fantastic interview with President-elect Barack Obama and his wife Michelle from 60 minutes last night.


Watch CBS Videos Online

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Stop photoshopping my head on sexy bikini pictures

If you haven't seen it yet, you're missing out.

I'm better for it

I came across this video as I was listening to my last.fm library this afternoon. This is one of my favorite songs from the 90s. I loved Juliana Hatfield when I was a kid. Literally, like a 14 year old kid. Too young to ever see her play, I didn't get a chance to catch her live until I was in college. She played Caledonia Lounge and after her show I got to tell her that "Make It Home" was one of the first songs I learned to play on guitar. And of course I still remember how to play it. "Universal Heartbeat" is a track from her record Only Everything. Great video, great song.

Nothing will happen to me

When we were at Barnes & Noble on Sunday (killing some time before seeing Mirrors) I bought the novel Towelhead by Alicia Erian. It was so good that I've already finished reading it. The film version comes out tomorrow and stars the fantastically talented Toni Collette and the very suave Aaron Eckhart. While I haven't seen it, I hear that Summer Bishil, who plays 13 year old Jasira (the main character) does a phenomenal job. I read a profile of her in I think Paper magazine a while back and it made me really want to read the book.

Without giving too much away, Towelhead really made me think about how we see ourselves, how we see others and what makes people do the things they do. While Jasira could be considered a very lost little girl who often does things when she knows she shouldn't, you can't help but feel sorry for her. A lot of her actions are just reactions to things in her life that no child should have to deal with. And who says any of us wouldn't have done the same things at her age, especially if we were confused, scared or just lonely. While there are times where you just want to shake some sense in to her, at others you just want to give her a hug because you realize that's what she really needs. I think a lot of people will empathize with her.

The title Towelhead will surely shock some people as well. But I'm sure that is its intent. Racism is definitely a strong theme in the book, especially since it takes place in 1990 when the US is involved in the Gulf War. When Jasira's Irish mother sends her to Texas to live with her Lebanese father, she encounters racism from kids at school, the 10 year old boy she babysits next door, and even her own father, who, although he claims not to be a racist, does not want Jasira to hang out with Thomas, a black boy who she likes at school. Is he really only concerned that Jasira will have to face the same rough time he and her mother did when they were married? Or is it his own underlying prejudices?

I was only nine years old in 1990 and so I can't really recall the racial sentiments in the country at that time. But in the grand view of the history of the world, it wasn't that long ago. And it always saddens me that people, even 18 years ago, could hold such prejudices against others just because of their ethnic background. It still goes on today. But just maybe, this book will make people realize that racism is something that should be left in the past.

And while the sexual awakening of a young girl will surely make some people very uncomfortable, I think its important to show how necessary it is for young people, especially girls, to feel comfortable with their bodies and who they are. They should also feel comfortable enough to go to the adults in their life who they trust, respect, and look up to and have them give them honest and straight forward answers to the questions they have, without making them feel ashamed for asking them. Too many bad things can happen when there's a lack of communication, and I think that is shown quite well in the book.

Over the past few years, I've tried to read books before I see the movie. The book is better 99.9% of the time. But I have a good feeling like this movie will most certainly due justice to the book. I believe in Toni, Aaron and especially in Summer.

Gina Gershon as Sarah Palin

Funny stuff

See more Gina Gershon videos at Funny or Die

If you say so, I'll leave home

The weather was terrible yesterday but it's a lot nicer today. Fall is approaching and I'm very much looking forward to it. It was a hot summer. I've just gotten over being sick (I had tonsillitis and spent Labor Day in the ER). My mom says that I need to start taking my vitamins regularly. I'm really bad about taking my vitamins. Perhaps I need one of those trusty pill boxes with the days of the week on them? Maybe not.

I met Rachel Zoe in Bryant Park on Monday. I saw a sneak peak of her new show on Bravo, The Rachel Zoe Project, a couple of weeks ago and I really liked it. I've seen a few famous people here and there since I moved to NY, but I've never actually gone up to any of them. It's almost as if they don't live in the same world as the rest of us, so when you see them outside in the "real world" it's a little strange. But I was just sitting there talking on the phone to my aunt and I saw Rachel and her assistant walk up the stairs and into the park. Rachel sat down as her assistant called somoene on the phone. When I got up to leave, I decided to say hello. She was very nice, shook my hand and said thanks when I wished her good luck with the show. I think most people's apprenhsion of going up to famous people is the fear that they'll be complete assholes. I'm happy to say that Rachel was as nice as can be.

If you don't have the Does It Offend You, Yeah CD, You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into, you should really get it because it's all kinds of awesome. "With a Heavy Heart" and "Dawn of the Dead" are personal favorites. I feel so out of the loop with music these days (as I've spent most of the year listening to The Duke Spirit and The Cure). However, with CMJ coming up soon, I hope to get back into the swing of things. Lots of great bands will be coming into town in the next few months and I look forward to seeing a few of them.

I recently purchased tickets to two shows that I'm VERY excited about. The first is Jaguar Love who will be performing at Mercury Lounge on Halloween. Yes, it's very cool that members of Pretty Girls Make Graves and Blood Brothers got together to form a band. I think everyone should like them on principal alone. However, their music is actually quite fantastic.

The other post Pretty Girls Make Graves Bands for those of you interested include:

Triumph of Lethargy Skinned Alive to Death (Andrea)
Night Canopy (Nick)
The Moonrats (Nathan)
The Cave Singers (Derek)

I also purchased tickets to see the one and only RIVAL SCHOOLS at Mercury Lounge November 6th. It's already sold out (as is their show at Maxwell's in NJ) so I'm SOO happy that I didn't wait to get tickets. I never got the chance to see them live and United By Fate is such an important album for me. It's SOO my sophomore year in college. Rival Schools played a show in Athens once and all of my friends went. I couldn't make it since I was out of town. They all gushed about how great the show was and I've always regretted missing it. But now I get to see them in my favorite NYC venue. Once it starts getting colder, I'll have to start rocking my Rival Schools hoodie again. If you'd like some Rival Schools merch, there's a great sale going on over at their Merch Direct store. Perhaps their making room for new merch? Rival Schools' wikipedia page says that they've been writing new material, so maybe a new album is on its way as well.

As a side note, Merch Direct is owned by Justin Beck (of Glassjaw) who is married to the beautiful Melissa Beck (formally Howard -- She was in the New Orleans season of Real World and on Girls Behaving Badly). Melissa just annouced yesterday on her blog that she's pregnant! Congratulations to Melissa and Justin. That baby is going to be all kinds of gorgeous.

Happy Fourth!

Consindering that several past 4th of July days involved me sitting in a hot park at one of my mom's craft fairs, I feel like today will be a good day. Don't know if there's gonna be any cookout or picnic involved in my day today, but to be honest, doesn't matter either way.

Adhalia brought over some Robutssin for me last night and I actually had a pretty good nights rest. Thank GOD! I think I've gotten over the hump at least.

Hope everyone enjoys their day off. And as a little gift, check out this adorable kid from America's Got Talent.

Drink Applejuice. OJ will kill you.

Actually, I really HATE apple juice. So it's OJ for me all the way!

I'm feeling a little better today. My mom is in town from Atlanta and she bought me loads of orange juice to drink. Half a cartoon through, I can already tell that its vitaminy goodness is working its magic. I think I slept for a total of 3 hours last night. For the longest time I just couldn't fall asleep. To much tossing and turning and nose blowing and coughing to settle myself down. And then I felt like I might puke and that's never good. So I got up and made myself some green tea and that helped. The only green tea I drink is Lipton Green Tea with Honey. Actually, there's a raspberry flavor that's pretty delicious too. I keep a box of both of those as well as a box of Tazo Chai at my Aunt V's house so I'm never without tea on the weekends.

Anywho, it sucks that I'm gonnna be sick on the 4th. I can tell that I'm gonna be sick for at least the next couple of days. This is one of those bitches that just has to run its course. Having a cold and being out in the hot sun are just not good combinations. Hopefully, I can still manage to have some kind of fun this weekend. And if not, I'm sure my neighbors will have fun for me as there will probably be a bloc party every night until Monday.

Nerrissa has next week off and is taking mommy out into the city to go do cool tourists things like shopping on canal street. I wish I could go! But I'm looking forward to going to Kings Avenue Tattoo next Saturday to have my consultation with Grez. I can't believe it's time already. This will be my first time getting inked so I'm definitely anxious about it. Hopefully, I'll be mad tuff about the whole thing and won't freak out or make an idiot out of myself. I mean, lots of people get tattoos. It can't be THAT bad...right?

* Cough Cough* I'm sick

Just so you know, I have a vicious, evil cold that is reeking havoc on my immune system. I cough, I sneeze, I blow my nose every 30 seconds. It's great fun. Not to mention all the congestion and the sore throat. I feel like my head is going to explode. Anybody else have a summer cold? It's the worst.

I bought some NyQuil a few days ago but that hasn't done jack shit. Despite the expiration date saying December 2008, I have a sneaking suspicion that this stuff isn't as potent as the NyQuil hanging out in the medicine cabinet of my Aunt V's house. Now that shit will knock you out for hours and hours on end. Once, when Nerrissa was sick, she took some and we had to check on her to make sure she wasn't dead, she was asleep for so long. That's the NyQuil I need.


Anywho, this morning I got some Dayquil (in the liquid form; when that orange fluid goes down my throat, i actually feel like it's doing something" and some Tylenol Cold Multi-Sympton Severe. My shit is severe like whoa. Hopefully Tylenol and Dayquil will beat this summer cold like it stole something and give me a much needed good nights sleep.



I need to write about so much. I need to write about Snowden and The Cure shows and Nikka Costa. Hopefully, I'll get around to that shortly....

You don't look like I look back

A funny thing happened on the way to The Duke Spirit show on Tuesday....

Dirk and I could not find the Bowery Ballroom. Ok, so yeah you're going to find out that I'm not the downtown LESider you thought I was. Ok, you probably didn't think that, but as many times as I've been to Mercury Lounge, you'd think that I'd have no problem finding Bowery. I mean, they ARE in the same neighborhood. I partially blame hopstop, and the man that we stopped to ask for directions at the liquor store. But I thank the nice couple that told us we had to walk back towards the bridge. And of course Liela.

So here's the deal. I'd never seen a show at Bowery Ballroom before. Dirk had only been there once. We were pretty certain that we'd passed it somehow (even though we were being all eagle eyed with the lookout for Delancey). But we were walking and walking and didn't see it. So, after too much walking, I decided to ask this nice couple which way Delancey was. They told us to go back where we came from so we started walking. And walking. And walking some more. I decided to try looking it up on my Blackberry again, and saw out of the corner of my eye as two people walked by. Dirk said, "Hey I think that was Liela." I said, "huh?", stopped, and looked back. And sure enough it was Liela. She must've heard him say her name, because she looked back in our direction. So did Luke (who plays guitar) who was walking with her. So I said to Dirk, "Maybe we should just ask her where the Bowery Ballroom is," so I did. By this time, her and Luke had walked a pretty good ways, but that didn't stop me from yelling "LIIIIIIIIEEEEEELLLLAAAAAAAAA" down Bowery. She turned around and stopped and I started running towards her and she started coming towards me. Sometimes I can be really outgoing.

So first off, Liela Moss is totally the sweetest person ever. I'd met her and Toby back in February at the Union Hall show where she was super nice and remembered that Dirk and I were at the show the night before at Mercury Lounge (you know how I love that stuff.) Anyway, she had the best smile on her face and I asked her where the Bowery Ballroom was. Isn't it awesome when you can ask a person from London where something in New York is and they know!?! She said, "Oh it's actually really close by, just another block over," and I was grateful to know that we were close. Oh yeah, and it didn't suck getting to talk to the lead singer of one of my favorite bands again either. We thanked her and she and Luke went back the way they were going, and we headed towards Delancey. And of course, we saw the street sign clear as day starring at us when we reached our destination. How could we have missed it? Who knows.

Don't know what time it was, but by the time we went inside, Chief were already on stage. I'd read about them Paper magazine (the beautiful people issue with Joanna Newsome on the cover) so I was like, "Oh yeah! Those guys." The crowd was definitely loving them, and they played a really good set. They had a laid back, folk groove to them. Great harmonies too. The Pierces were next and Catherine and Allison did not disappoint. Their vocals were haunting and confident, but very sweet. I'd only heard one of their songs before, but was impressed with their set. I especially enjoyed the song, "Boring," and think it sounded even better live than on record, which is always nice. And of course it was cool to see that Russell Simins, who plays drums for Tiny Masters of Today, was playing with them.

The room was pretty packed when The Duke Spirit took to the stage. They walked out to "I Do Believe" which is a 43 second track that opens their new album, Neptune. Then they launched into "Send A Little Love Token" and proceeded to unleash all of their awesomeness on a very appreciative and excited crowd.


Even though I've only been listening to The Duke Spirit for about 3 years, I'm certain that Liela Moss will go down as one of my favorite lead singers, male or female. When she's on stage, you cannot keep your eyes off of her. She's mesmerizing to watch. Besides the gem that is that fantastic smokey voice of hers, she moves pretty much non stop, banging her tambourine and dancing, her blonde hair flying. And even though she wasn't wearing her signature feather, her outfit (a shiny gold sleeveless top, with leggings and black boots) looked great.

But of course, The Duke Spirit wouldn't be the Duke Spirit without those four awesome guys that Liela performs with every night. Toby, Luke, Dan and Olly are all incredible musicians and we're all fortunate that this group of people found one another and decided to play music together. Olly is an animal behind the drums and I love the back and forth between Toby, Luke, and Dan.


The band played mostly new stuff including "This Ship Was Built to Last" (which is the most EPIC song I've heard in quite some time), "Sunken Treasure," "Into The Fold" (which Liela said is "about conviction"), "Sovereign," "Neptune," "The Step and The Walk" (which had the best Liela dancing and tambourine banging of the set in my opinion), and "Dog Roses." They also played oldies like "Red Weather," "Lion Rip" (which I hadn't heard live before, but sounded amazing), and "Love is An Unfamiliar Name." The best was when they did their very last song in the encore, which couldn't have been anything other than "Cuts Across The Land." It was perfect and got every old Duke fan in the house crazy with excitement when they started playing it. I truly love this band and I know that 2008 will be a great year for them.

If you've yet to pick up Neptune, please go to your local music retailer and get it ASAP. You can even get it on iTunes (which is what I did back in February). Every song is fantastic. Feel free to get your own tambourine and bang it along with Liela. Although stay away from the harmonica, 'cause she's got that shit down.

I took loads of pictures but the one at the beginning of the post is probably my favorite. See the rest on flickr.

You were right from the start

Would you believe that I missed Jaymay on Conan last night! I totally set my alarm and everything so that I could wake up in time. But still, I missed it. Must've slept through the damn thing. Anywho, it's ok because I was able to watch the whole thing on nbc's site here. So if you haven't seen it, check it out. She played "Gray or Blue" and it was great! I'm hoping that I can make it out to her Mercury Lounge show next week even though I have a baby shower to go to that night. But we'll see.


Jaymay's new CD, Autumn Fallin' came out today in the US and I picked up a copy at the Virgin Megastore in Union Sqaure this afternoon. I also picked up MGMT and asked the lady at the checkout counter how long this $10 sale was going to last. And to my surprise she said that it's an ongoing thing, just with different releases every now and then. Mr. Branson, how can you afford to do that? So cool! I'd never been in there before so I had no clue, but I must say that's pretty effing awesome and I'll be visitng the store often.

I didn't make it out to the Lightspeed Champion show on Saturday night in Brooklyn (did anyone else get caught in that never ending rain storm?) but I'm sure Dev was great.

I guess all the cool kids are in Austin for SXSW this week. I hope to go one of these years. At least we can be pretty sure that everyone playing the festival will at some point come through New York, so I'm sure I'll have a chance to catch all of the next big things later on

I hardly saw any episodes of Project Runway this season, but caught enough to know that Christian was probably the one to beat. And I'm glad to see that he won. I'm even more glad that SNL decided to do a skit on him because it is hilarious. You can watch the video below.

It's totally Conan!

For those of you who do not know, the wonderfully talented Jaymay will perform on Late Night with Conan O'Brien on Monday, March 10th. No idea what song shes doing, but that doesn't even matter! This is totally going to be her year. She's already been in both Nylon and Paste magazines and once she plays SXSW next week, it's a done deal. She's going to be huge. ABC, I hope to hear "Ill Willed" person on Gray's Anatomy at some point in the next couple of months.

Jaymay's CD, Autumn Fallin, comes out here in the states Tuesday, March 11th. You better go get it. For details on her SXSW shows, visit her MySpace blog. And if you're like me and not lucky enough to go to SXSW this year, you can still catch her at Mercury Lounge Wednesday, March 19th.

I feel better now I've seen you

It seems like I have less and less time every day for blogging, but I figure at the very least, I can try to write short little recaps of shows I go to. Now that can't take too much time right?

Last night Georgia, Dirk and I saw Lightspeed Champion at Mercury Lounge. I had been looking forward to this show for some time and Dev did not disappoint. But first...

The opening band was Hey Hey My My all the way from Paris. Check out some songs here. Don't worry, they sing in English. I really enjoyed their set, especially when what seemed like quiet songs at first would explode and be rocked out towards the end. I particularly enjoyed the "get along, get along" song, and regret not singing along when the lead singer invited the crowd to join in.

During said performance, Dirk went to get a drink and spotted Dev in the crowd. He told him that I was a big fan and was standing up front so that I'd have a good spot for Lightspeed's set. That's true. He also told Dev that I was too nervous to go up and say hi. Dev, that's totally not true. And as a matter of fact, after Lightspeed's set, Georgia and I crowded around with some others and waited to say a quick hello. But I'm jumping ahead.

Once Hey Hey My My finished their set, everyone moved up to get a closer spot for Lightspeed. I've decided that it's so silly to stand in the middle of the floor when you know you really want to be right up front. Don't wait for other people to go right up front. If you want to be in the front, dammit go up there and stand by the speakers and be proud of the fact that you're such a big dork. It didn't bother me in the slightest.


Dev received a warm and generous round of applause when he took the stage. Only other person on stage with him was Mike Sidell playing violin. Dev seemed genuinely humbled and happy to have a sold out crowd there to see him perform. He said that he was nervous, but I couldn't really tell, he did such a fantastic job. He played "Galaxy of the Lost," "No Surprise" (a song he wrote for his mother), "Dry Lips," "Tell Me What It's Worth," "Midnight Surprise" and "Everyone I Know Is Listening to Crunk." He made the crowd laugh after every song and seemed to be having a great time. He also did a cover of the Strokes' song "Heart in a Cage" which sounded brilliant. After "Dry Lips," he said that he only had one song left, and everyone made that sad booing sound. But he actually had two left (I guess he always forgets about "Tell Me What It's Worth"). And while "Midnight Surprise" was meant to be the last song, cheers and yells from the audience brought Dev back on stage to play one more. After several suggestions were shouted from the crowd (my vote was for Waiting Game) Dev and Mike settled on "Xanadu!" I LOVE Lightspeed's version of this song, and myself and a few others really enjoyed singing "Ju Ju Bug. Xanadu!"

After the final song, the club tried to hurry everyone out so that they could get ready for the night's next show. Georgia and I were able to say a quick hello to Dev before being ushered out. All in all, Lightspeed made a fantastic return to the big city and a good time was had by all.

On the train ride home, we saw John Waters in the next car and got super excited. I really wanted to tell him how much I love Cry Baby, Hairspray and A Dirty Shame, but I'm sure he gets that all the time. Ok, well maybe not so much for A Dirty Shame 'cause I don't think that many people have seen it, but definitely for the other two.

I'm about 75% sure that I'll attend the Union Pool show on Saturday. I've never been to Union Hall, and you know how I love going to "new" venues! If I go, maybe I'll get to hear Waiting Game.

For more pictures, go here. Oh and just so you know, I'm still trying to figure out how to maneuver all of the 8 million different functions on my camera, so don't expect expert pics or anything. I just do what I can.