so far

Those words were not the music I was dancing to.

My afternoon nap/cover kicking dream ended in this thought today. So odd.

I've been enjoying my mornings starting at noon this week, I'll pour out a forty tonight at 3 am for the poor souls working this week.

Tomorrow I'm going to the zoo.

suckas.

We'll skip lunch and go

I have one free pass to Magic Mountain, so if anybody wants to go (maybe next week?) before it expires in April let me know.

It's been two or three years since I've gone and I skipped the four hour line refused to wait in a four hour line for X, so I would love to finally give that baby a whirl.

This new Tatsu coaster will probably open in May unfortunately.

Click pic for more info and a video:

Kiss or Kill movin' on up in 2006

An email went out last night with the new locations for Kiss or Kill in 2006. Previously announced was the first Fridays (starting 2.3.06) are to held at the Key Club on the Sunset Strip. Nice venue, all ages, horrible parking, but I hear new management might be in place, so we'll see.

The big news is Kiss or Kill will be at the soon to re-opened (again) Safari Sam's Sunset Stage starting 2.10.06.

Details:
5214 W. Sunset Blvd @ Western (East Hollywood)
$3 before 10pm/ $5 afterwards -- All Ages!

Additional info was reported in the LA Times on 12.15.05 which I have to assume has been taken care of:

Safari Sam isn't out of the jungle

The comeback of the celebrated but short-lived nightclub Safari Sam's is on tenuous ground as its owner searches for last-minute investors. Sam Lanni, who ran the buzzing live music venue from 1984 until the city of Huntington Beach closed it down in 1986, planned to open a new 500-capacity club on Sunset Boulevard in east Hollywood early next year. As construction progressed, he lined up Steve Zepeda, Ken Phebus and Patrick Llewellyn to book entertainment and Julio Douglas (of Echo Park's Brite Spot restaurant) to run Sam's food service.

But in an e-mail sent Sunday night [12.11.05], Lanni said he "must find $25,000 to $30,000 in the next two weeks" to be able to open the club, which includes 4,500 square feet inside, plus a mezzanine a third that big and a patio. Lanni, whose back-in-the-day O.C. club hosted the likes of Social Distortion, 10,000 Maniacs, the Jesus and Mary Chain, the Meat Puppets, the Minutemen, Henry Rollins and Camper van Beethoven, invited friends to invest in his project, in exchange for special perks. Stay tuned.

This year should be pretty interesting.

FYI: Kiss or Kill - I'm a community of musicians and artists who share a belief that there is strength in numbers and that music can change the world. Dedicated to LA's indie/DIY/underground music scene with a focus primarily on punk rock ('77 style/Brit punk and o.k., a little new wave too...but, no hard core) and power pop because that's the kind of music I like.

Oh please comment if you know more info on any of this, as I'm not in the know

Could happen

From the LA Times:

An Air India passenger jet with 273 people on board made a safe emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport about 10 p.m. Monday after blowing a tire during takeoff, airport officials said.

Well duh!

I'm still looking for a picture to prove this, but I'm pretty sure the navigator (also an amateur artist) drew some tires on an illustration he did of the 747 before landing.

You know, just like that episode The Mission from the Amazing Stories TV series.

potatos

Head tilted to the left on a drive home, thankful for new tires and easy freeway access.

Track five is on repeat
and it never gets old.




There were potatos on the freeway last night.

I killed two of them.

Big Macs and Yoga

Free parking, free show, and free exercise.

Thanks to the Dollyrots for putting out an open guest list for last night's show saving me ten bucks. Quickly parked right off Santa Monica Blvd on Larrabee knowing that in the time spent driving around the Viper Room in a big circle looking for metered parking, I could park for free and walk to the venue. I huffed it up the street at full speed, petering out two thirds of the way up. Knew I was going to miss the Waking Hours and having a heart attack wasn't going to get me there any faster.

The doorman made me wait even though there wasn't a line, possibly because he saw the look of death on my face from that hike and did me a favor by doing so. Labored up the stairs and planted myself against the pole nearest the exit door waiting to see if Corey would make it out. Julia remarked later that I looked gloomy that night which I was without anyone to talk to alter my dead can dance look on my face. I did know some folks there from KorK, just none well enough to chat to.

I was already dead tired and feeling a little I dislike the holidays blah until Emily came up to say a quick hello before leaving. A smile I needed after being slightly snubbed a few minutes earlier by someone else. A few weeks ago it was very much direct eye contact, a pause in your tracks greeting but not tonight. Once there were sparks a year ago, now just friendly hellos every few months (as it should be). To this day I wonder if I just imagined those moments in the first place.

Talked outside with a friend that I've gotten to know a little better over the last month. Her story beat my meeting the Ex's boyfriend talrury before the Dollys played until the cigerette was out and the band already on their second song. Set seemed flat at first, picking up half way about the time they played the new-ish song Leaving LA, my new favorite. Joined most of the dollycrowd by leaving before Vagenius played, a band I enjoyed months ago but couldn't compete with an incredible urge to crawl into bed.

Driving down La Cienaga I spotted a McDonalds offering one dollar Big Macs on Mondays. The naughtiness of unhealthy fast food can cheer me sometimes so I had to stop for a quick pick me up snack.

Hello dollar Big Macs! I want two of you but the detached voice informed me of the disappearance of the Big Mac sauce. Fine. Whatever. Give me those big boys with mayo then.

Looking across the street as I ate my less than fabulous Big Macs I noticed the Bikram Yoga World Headquarters that my old friend is really into. If it wasn't for the taking your shirt off in a large room of strangers, I might be interested in trying this out.

Look at this picture below. I so could do that. All day.



I found a good intro article here if you're interested.

4:30pm

Actual conversation I had leaving work yesterday:

Bill: Oh wow there's clouds out.
Me: It is December. You know winter and all.

Yes, I've been rubbing this in to my friends up North.

5-day forecast for the Bay Area

---

Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
T-storms	Rain	Chance of Rain	Chance of Rain	Partly Cloudy
61° | 52°	60° | 52°	59° | 52°	60° | 51°	59° | 50°

5-day forecast for Los Angeles

---

Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Partly Cloudy	Clear
78° | 54°	76° | 53°	68° | 53°	72° | 52°	76° | 51°

I have no idea what to do with myself

Found out yesterday that I will have New Years weekend free and this morning the unofficial word is that I will have all of next week off. Beside some shows and family stuff on Christmas I have nothing planned. Now if I was sitting on some cash I would either go up to the Bay or even Vegas, but NOoooooo I'm poor until next month. grr.

Anyhow this is it so far:
Fri 12.23.05 @ Knitting Factory -- Los Abandoned
FREE with flyer --- $10 without it.

Tues: 12.27.05 @ Knitting Factory --- The Naturals


Fri 12.30.05 @ Knitting Factory Alterknit Lounge $ 8
Katie the Pest
Red Pony Clock

I think there is free Pu$$yCow show on Sun 1.01.06 at Canters.

What to do? Hit a couple shows of course, but I really don't like that to be the highlight of my vacation. Anyone want to go kite flying in Venice?

Sure

My weekend was pretty low key, deciding sleep was going to be a more interesting than SNL. Not sure how the whole show was, but thanks to the Net I can see this amusing bit I'd missed.

(If the video doesn't work, don't cry about it, click here)



Met the Ex's serious BF this Sunday. Now that was interesting.

Monday Monday Monday

Monday Dec. 19th @ The Viper Room – Los Angeles, CA
Indie 103.1’s Check One…Two Holiday Party

The Waking Hours @ 8pm
The Dollyrots @ 9pm
Vagenius @ 10
The Drugstore Cowgirls @ 11

Free with password(s):

"Heartbeat" via The Waking Hours
"Sniffy" via The Dollyrots

$10 if you're a Senor Moneybaggio

Not blogging for awhile is nice

Last Sat @ 4.30 pm
Corey: What are you doing?
Me: Sitting on my couch watching TV.
Corey: Are you planning on doing that the whole night?
Me: I was thinking about taking a shower sometime before 5pm and maybe a quick jaunt to the 99 for some cleaning supplies.
Corey: The what?
Me: The 99. The 99 Cent store. My home away from home.
Corey: And this sounds like fun to you?
Me: Um, it kind of does.

I was convinced to go see Rob Z and Nova's comedy thingy with Corey and Ashley, deciding to eat at Highland Grounds before the show started there. Another well known cafe/bar/restaurant that I had never been to in Los Angeles that I can cross of my list.

While the food selection was nothing fancy, the "Dream" pizza was yummy according to my friends and my hamburger was pretty darn good. What had me yum yumming about was the seasoned fries (on the spicy side) and thick ranch dressing that went with it. Thrown down my throat with a couple of Coronas, it hit me perfectly that night.

The show was a half hour mixture of live and taped skits which I would've found more amusing if I wasn't waiting outside alone for my check during the first twenty minutes or not scrunched up in the hallway with stupid college girls walking in and out five times in ten minutes.
They weren't even that good looking either.

Random:

The Honey Pot joked about some 12 yr old girls running around the patio giving out blow jobs out back when I chimed in to the obvious presence of "dicks galore" in this Hollywood-ish parking lot.
It wasn't funny I know, but she laughed and I'll take it.

Brief yummy eye contact with a stranger* or two. Meaningless seconds that I will take too. *myspace is great for stalking cute friends of friends btw.

Paige and Little Sister showed up, both not looking like their ages (20 & 16 respectively) and at one point this older dude started chatting them up. They were polite and tried not pay too much attention to him (he was being very nice and normal) but disappointed me by not pulling the age card out.

Why couldn't they say they had to go home and study for a final, then the older guy would ask if they went to SC with all the other lame ass girls there that night and Little Sister would answer I go to so and so High School. Older guy freaks outs. The end.

He eventually got a clue and left, but I so wanted to see that look of Oh My F##k'ing God, Jail Bait! Dive! Dive!

Now that would’ve been funny.

20 minutes on Sunday

Stood on the dirt gravel ground deciphering gang tags on plywood boards squeezed between chain link and steel poles. Tarps covered the fence on the right of me, save for a sliver between fence and wooded wall offering the sight of rusted metal barrels emptied long ago.

This industrial wasteland hides friends in illegally converted warehouses and homeless men behind the concrete pillars against the 101. Only a shopping cart filled with random belongings parked near the gate hinted at the hidden minds with random thoughts.

I position myself in wait against one of the concrete pillars of this Downtown bridge looking up to the unreachable framework of shadows and golden support beams. Nothing speaks more kind words of Los Angeles than the low angle orange glow coming in from the South hand in hand with all 70 degrees of December.

The broken light bulbs and LA River warehouses welcomed her as she swung the wide and tattered gate open.

"What are you doing? Posing?"
I lie with a "No, not all."

Looking over the rooftops I smile. "I've forgotten how much I love the way it looks at this time of year. This Winter Light."

"Ah yes. It is nice"

I blab about the blue light of San Francisco as we drive off to Palms with the music up, windows down on the Santa Monica 10. Number four to the number three, then pause before strutting over to the inside lane at 75 mph, a quick glance at the LA skyline confirms that I could never move back.

Just noticed in the mirror

I've been putting too many mililiters of gel into my hair lately.

This could potentially become a problem.

Overheard at the north pole

I don't talk about my kids for various reasons but since it is December, they are even more of a focus of my life with their birthdays falling in the last two weeks (19th & 27th) of the month.

So it's double the shopping, double the spending, with stress about limited funds sprinkled on top of going along with the extra holiday traditions we are required to attend to. The drive through the holidays lights if Griffith Park, frosted green sugar cookies, and the trip to Santa's lap for confession. I'll have to admit though, they are the only reason the holidays are enjoyable for me otherwise I wouldn't have put myself through the Let's go see Santa hell a couple weeks ago at Travel Town where I was treated to this minor exchange while waiting to pick up our photos:

Kid: Are you going to give Mommy a copy?

Dad: Um no. I'm just buying one for me.

Kid: Why not?

Dad: Mommy could buy her own photos when she takes you guys to see Santa.

Dad (under his breath): That's what child support is for.

He appreciated my knowing chuckle as I scooted by to retrieve my picture. For what I paid, this photo is sooo coming out in twenty years when my son brings a date home for the holidays.

This week was alright

I haven't written about the shows I've gone to lately, but the last couple nights have been memorable for different reasons. Tuesday was the last Kiss or Kill of the year with a prom night theme, meaning cute dresses, wacky suits, and great prom pictures.

These are of Jason Pancake with the Randies, Tara & Emma of The Makeout Bandits, Laurita Randie, Kelly from the Dollyrots, and then Sean+Julia with Omega and CeCe of So Unloved and just a cute one of them together (they run the Punk Rock Social-live).




Some random things from that night that I might have done or seen:

Seeing pretty much every girl that I've had a crush or infatuation over the last two years all in one room. Oh my god, didn't DG looked great that night?
Lost a staring contest I initiated.
Tried talking to a social friend with a hug/hello, how are you and then she was done dealing with me. I looked at her, she looked back and then looked away to scan the room.
I stood there for a couple seconds, and said Uh. Oh okay then and walked away.
Guess we don't have conversations anymore.

The bands were amazing, bouncing off the energy of the room, enjoying the fun themselves. I missed the first half of Midway, caught most of Silver Needle, but Bang Sugar Bang really cheered me up. Porterville got everyone bouncing next and I finally saw a full set of the Randies new lineup. The sound has a lot more scratchy guitars, the drums needed to be tighter IMO, but there is definitely a new vibe in that band now for better or worse. They ended the set in a rumble ala Midway, but added blood pouches for a more violent effect. A bit surreal actually.

On Thursday headed out to Mr T's bowl for the The Power Cords (uber Rentals poppy), the Dollyrots and Get Set Go. Seriously some of the best sets I've ever seen from these bands in a long time.

Okay thats it.

Oh I did try to sell two of my female friends to an weird old guy for five bucks.
They didn't like that all too much.

Los Abandoned - Electricidad video

Simply put, Los Abandoned performs one of the most spirited shows in Los Angeles right now.

I guess they would be filed under Rock en Espanol, but most of their songs are in English and what does it matter when you're bouncing around?. Regardless I would love to see them play Kiss or Kill on one of the all ages night at the Key Club just to mix things up a bit. It doesn't hurt that they can draw a good size audience either.

LA myspace page
LA website

Catch them 12.14.05 at JC Fandango
Anaheim, 10 bucks, all ages
8 pm The Tender Box, Enjambre, Los Abandoned, Volumen Cero

Click to play the Electricidad video (wmv)
or right click and save link:

http://www.fakedoom.com/vapor/losabandoned/electricidad.wmv

Damn, I lost the bet

I guess my little (31 yrs old) sister got herself engaged.

If you knew my sister, you would immediately realized how crazy that sentence sounds.
Miss I'll do it alone, Career First, Fuck Love sister...Yeah that one. Anyhow we all grow up and if we're lucky meet the right one like I believe she has, so I'm happy for her and this guy is pretty darn cool even though he's from Texas.

Wait a second. Where is this going happen? Northern California? Texas? Rhode Island where they're currently stationed?

They're both wacky, not rich, non-traditional musicians, so maybe I can convince them on having it in Vegas. It will be centrally located for the Texans and Californians, multiple options on having it at a cheesy chapel or a nicer one inside a major casino. I've been to both kinds and was actually impressed with the wedding mill at Excalibur.

The booze, gambling and strip clubs will be major selling points too, but for me its "Hello Star Trek Experience, here I come!"

Nouvelle Vague coming to LA

Nouvelle Vague

“Taking their moniker from the 60s New Wave of cult French cinema, Nouvelle Vague are a French musical collective put together by arrangers Marc Collins and Olivier Libaux. The group’s raison d’etre is to resurrect lost classics from the 80s New Wave music and reinterpret them in a saucy bossa nova style. Replacing the inherent broodiness and aggression of songs like The Dead Kennedy’s Too Drunk To F**k and Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart with insouciant Latino rhythms shouldn't work, but it really, really does.” says the BBC. Some of the songs are stripped back to acoustic arrangements with lithe shaker rhythms achieved by gathering a parade of heavenly chanteuses from all over the world (six French, one Brazilian and one New Yorker) as guest vocalists to sex up everyone from XTC and Modern English to The Clash and The Undertones.

Listen to their versions of I Melt With You(Modern English), Love Will Tear Us Apart (Joy Division), Making Plans For Nigel (XTC), This is Not a Love Song (PIL aka Public Image Ltd.) -- here on myspace and then click here to stream Teen Age Kicks (the Undertones)

25 bucks is a little steep for most shows, but I think this one will be worth it.
Jan 5-6th.2006 @ at The Fold in Tangier (a tiny venue!)
2138 Hillhurst Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90027
but tickets http://www.virtuous.com

Yesterday

I found an old friend and that has made me terribly happy.

She knew me as Bobby and was the only one to call me Robert Dean until I started using it online a year ago.

There is a story behind everything I do.

Hello Couch

I was trying to decipher the expressions in her street light silhouette, the orange glow backlit my driveway as our conversation turned to us in round about ways. Against the rear of my parked car, we chatted just underneath the garage door.

She spoke softly tonight, words skipping off a pond in silence, her voice reaching me in the resulting ripples. I kept my arms folded to distance my thoughts from becoming possible urges for my hands to act upon. To pull her body close, brush her warm skin against mine with a slight breath onto her neck as I moved in close to place my lips near her cheekbone.

Urges like that.

continue boredom


Words slowed to a pause before starting our goodbyes.

“Awkward huh?”

Staring at the faint ridges of her face, “Oh I could give you a hug. It’s not that weird for me.” I glanced downward hoping to slide off the lie.

“It's just that the hugs always led to kisses and then...”

I stepped up and gave her a hug, well aware that at one time I would’ve kissed her ear and pulled her inside the house with me. Now these thoughts just hover above us, safely out of reach.

One of us said something that started up the conversation again, this time about how long one would wait to hear their partner to say I love you. She set April as the deadline for her current situation, so typical of her black and white way of thinking.

"You have a deadline on everything?" I asked.

"Well yeah, I had a deadline on how long it was going to take for him to say we were going out officially." Three months as not to rush him, but it only took him three days she happily reported.

"So When April comes around and he doesn't say it, you're going to?"

"Yes I am."

I gave a look of disbelief at first. She must be realizing how into him she was to commit to such an act. For a girl who formulated escape plans, cover stories, and plausible deniability in case her hopes were thwarted, she had to be damn confident in a successful outcome.

She mentioned that she didn't have a set plan of attack formulated yet so I told her how I would do it as a guy in that position.

I explained the prepping would start with a slow build up of goodbyes taking a few seconds longer each week. The actual engagement would start as a standard kiss and I'll see you later as usual but as I stepped back a couple feet, I would turn back, rush up to her ear and whisper I love you. As quickly as I pounced I scatter away with a smile leaving her hopefully dumbfounded.

I demonstrated my sample attack on her.
I could've attacked.

I kept talking past the look she gave afterwards, my body discovering gravity again as I felt pulled back into my leaning position against the trunk. That knotted feeling in my stomach returned to end our conversation a few minutes later, my sample attack was taking me out internally.

"You should go."
"Oh you're kicking me out now?" She smiled knowingly.
"You need to go"
"Okay"

I remain attached to my car as she pulled out and waved goodbye. Out of sight I stumble in to the house hitting the garage door button before entering.
My stomach ached.
The couch and comforter welcomed me.

My lame insult of the day

Your Momma uses dial-up.


oh ::burn::

2

That knotted feeling in my stomach has returned.

Sara @ the Grove

Sara Radle is playing at Barnes and Noble located in the Grove on Dec 11th. Take a break from shopping and enjoy her solo set.

Now if I did this right, you should be able to stream/download from the myspace player below.
If it doesn't work go here

December already

I think I'm taking a few days off from posting. I think I need to.

Feeling like one of those slimy sticky people toys, the kind you throw against the wall and watch dribble down. I don't know what they're called, but I think they came in spider form too.

Oh wait, found some. These things:



Anyhow I need to regroup, finish the 10 posts sitting in my drafts, at work a couple pallets came in from Israel that I need to take care of (I'm a product manager), and I should stop drinking way too much, too often. Oh I'm not drinking my sorrows away or anything like that, I just should be using that money for Christmas presents instead.

So all this means is that I might not be posting for a few days. Though the last time I had this much crap going on I knocked out six posts in about four hours one day, so who knows.

I uploaded some old crappy rough ideas crap I wrote. Some of you might have seen this already

The Doorway

Underneath Dinner