this has nothing to do with my hair

Kiss Or Kill - Final show at Safari Sam's before moving to El Cid next week.

This is either the best thing to restart the club or as how this second hand remark I heard succinctly put it: "No one goes anymore, the club is just about to limp off to El Cid and die."
Well that's a positive attitude.
Here's looking forward to new people, new bands and a new scene.

with Chissum Worthington 9.30, Bobot Adrenaline 10.15,
Porterville 11, The Randies 11.45, The Fizzies 12.30

~~~
Pink Mochi @ the Silvelake Lounge
Ai of Pink Mochi has another band called Chromosome Tea that used to play the "old" Kiss or Kill before taking a long break for various reasons. This will be their first show in a year. Chromosome Tea 9pm, Pink Mochi 10pm
~~~
Great Northern @ The Troubadour with Swedish band Loney, Dear
GN playing the Prospector in Long Beach on Thursday btw

holiday is also a great pixie song

Photo by angex used under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Creative Commons license

How was your holiday?

You didn't ask so let me tell you: Gained a couple pounds and my hair did this weird thing this weekend where it would tweak out in unattractive ways. As I get older I've noticed that my hair does some very frustrating things: First it starts growing in weird places and in bushier amounts - Already have thick enough eyebrows thank you very much. Secondly I have to settle with the slow migration off the top of my head to my eyebrows then, I presume, a nice retirement home in Florida with a high bocce court to resident ratio.

So this holiday my bad, tweaking thin hair and I ate out too much in between little trips in lovely LA. Saturday I went over to Hancock Park in the afternoon and took advantage of the LACMA free after 5pm bargain admission. My company and I were LACMA newbies so we wandered around haphazardly from hall to hall to get a good overview of the mid-reconstruction layout. Definetly going back so I can take my time and I also want to see the current Dan Flavin retrospective again as seen in the picture above.

Sunday we headed out to Venice Beach as the cars drove east at five pm I drove west to my favorite parking spot off Rose. Kept it simple with a towel and a pizza picnic with the drum circle as our wave added soundtrack behind us. Where the high tide mark dropped down sat a an assortment of couples, tourists, single parents and your plods of black hoodie mohawked kids waiting for the sun to set despite the clouds or slipping off their shoes to contemplate their dreams, their demons, their inner voice that told them to ignore the cold surf barefoot bathing and the bubbles of air from the wet, packed sand. *

I saw more of this than anything else. I saw myself doing this (post 1, post 2) awhile ago. This time was better - This time I had pizza.

TUESDAY NIGHT SHOWS:


The Amateurs CD Release Show @ The Scene - Glendale
with Light FM, Merle Jagger, The Parson Red Heads

I haven't seen the amateurs play in over a year 2 years ago. wow time flies. This was back when MFR was roommates with M and Keith the singer so guess that seems about right. Nice folks. Happy to see that they finished an album and all the cooler blogs mentioning this show. Also Parson Red Heads and Merle Jagger are great bands too.

Sam's (of Safari Sam's) Birthday @ Safari Sam's
with New Fidelity, Killola, The Binges,
Virginia City Revival (fka Cakecutter), HDR
(21+ free, kids $5) Half price beer + New Fidelity = yay

KXLU presents @ El Cid $?
The Karabal Nightlife, Nightfur, Kind Hearts and Coronets


*maybe this was just me over thinking again...and writing out of my ass

Sigh. This post is very live journal-ish.

Doing laundry at Lucy's does not equal getting out but on the upside the iced green tea made my head feel a little numb as I folded my clothes under the television novella I couldn't understand.

Skipped Kiss or Kill and the killradio benefit at Mr. T's for a two hour phone call and a half watched LOST finale. We talked about June and upcoming shows in terms of having to dress up when so and so band plays because you know that paths will be crossed and you want to look your best. Started to think I want to say hello to social circle strangers. Maybe even a little more than that. what?

I want this May funk to go away.

June: Looker A NYC band I've liked for a few years now is playing LA and in particular Kiss or Kill on June 20th. I have Siria to thank for that.

July: is when the lady bugs go away.

August: my brother is turning 40 and he has a Vegas party already planned. Family and friends are flying in from across the country - The Bay Area (duh), Rhode Island, NYC, and San Diego. I get to drive alone. yay. Already worried as to how to afford gambling + drinking + eating out for four straight days but at thankfully my brother is covering the 3 nights at Mandalay Bay and a giant dinner party at some steakhouse.

Now which bands can I get to play the Double Down that weekend?

Two weeks before that is the Star Trek convention - yeah shut up - but I'm sorry M I don't think I can pull Vegas off twice in one month. The only conventions I attend are the Natural Product Expos and such for work and those are terribly boring. This would be so blog worthy.

Sigh. At this point I would want to be anything worthy.

stupid eeyore me.

whales and sugar

I found this wonderful set on flickr today on a little town I used to live in.

My last six months in the Bay Area I spent in the waterfront community of Crockett best known for the C & H Sugar Factory (C & H= California & Hawaii) sign seen to the East of the bridges of Hwy 80 connecting the East Bay with the Delta plains up to Sacramento and then Sierra foothills. The whales in the news this last week had to pass through this strait to leave the Bay to head up the Delta.


Photo by Jeremy Brooks under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0

Paid $1,000 for a GIANT four bedroom flat and half of the six months lived alone for my first time. Two baths, garage, wood floors, an enormous stone layered fireplace all to my self; one room set aside as a future studio, another as an office. From one of the empty bedrooms I could see down into the main part of of the one stoplight/one gas station town past the factory as tanker ships slipped under the bridge peaks that poked up over the hill blocking my westward view.

I would fall asleep to the trains passing along the edge of water with horns sounding off at the crossing below and wake up in a fog sunken valley. This was perfect: walked out onto my porch wrapped in thrift store coat warmth with a smoke in the right hand, my second cup of coffee in the left, the houses across the street where all coated fog white and I would blankly listened to the trains passing along the edge of water with horns sounding off at the crossing below.

eggshell white if you're wondering

I never left my apartment this whole weekend, painting the bathroom with only my old laptop with an external 80gb drive of music as my sole company.

The new Dollyrots album was one of many I gave a good listened to this weekend and the timing of their new video posting on youtube worked out perfectly since I have nothing else to write about. Well this is probably the weakest song on the album - but then again it was never meant to be taken seriously. Word is that they seriously tamed down the video - maybe not to piss off the lawyers of AI.

The Dollyrots - Because I'm Awesome (myspace)
(link)

The Dollyrots (Kelly Ogden: Vox/Bass, Luis Cabezas: Guits/Vox, Chris Black: Drums) have been doing some catchy, god I hate to call it this, pop punk for the last five years in Los Angeles now. They used to play Kiss or Kill all the time but things change, stuff happened and so goes the nature of the club scene. I don't know the details but there is a track called Watch Me Go (Kissed Me, Killed Me) (stream @ purevolume) which apparently brings up some old and I believe now settled thoughts about their experience intermingling within the KorK social circles.

Then again it's just a song - who knows how much of it is true? I surely don't. Songs (and blog posts for that matter) can be directly inspired by people but so distorted and ambiguous that reality sits somewhere just off to the left of fact.

Hmm the only other obvious KorK imspired song that comes to mind is the Randies' Socialite (Kiss or Kill) and I think Take Me (mp3) by The O.A.O.T.'s might also be one. The inspiration behind another O.A.O.T.'s song Kelly Oh might be a little more obvious.

On a slightly related note, if there was a anthem for that period for me* this would have to be it: Ze Auto Parts - Drinkin' Whiskey And Makin' Out (mp3).

Just saying.


*sadly not true

long beach desires

Ok I get the good words about Force Field On I read yesterday afternoon.

Good stuff even for what seem like an overly long set - this is only mentioned because I had hope that like *some* of other Prospector shows I've seen over the last couple years this one would start on time; my secret plan was to see The Happy Hollows, sneak out to Alex's Bar for Deep Sea Diver, make it back for New Fidelity, sacrificing the Soft Hands set which I can tell you was great since none of this panned out.

So much for the imaginary world where I get everything I desire.


The Happy Hollows at the Echo a few weeks ago - photo by Corey

No reality wasn't that bad: I wore the wrong color pants and continue this weeks hefeweizen drinking spree to good music. Added benefit of listening in (they were yelling over the music) to the conversation next to me.

During the break between Happy Hollows songs:
Guy with prescription sunglasses: Wow
Friend: Wow
Friend: They're f..ing amazing
GWPS: Yeah! Want another beer?

Next break while the Happy Hollows dealt with sound issues
GWPS: Wow.
Friend: I f..ing love them. They're so raw.
GWPS: What?
Friend They're so raw!
Gwps: yeah.

The Happy Hollows switch out the Bass.

Friend: What kind of bass is that? I've never seen one like that before.
GWPS: It think it's a xxxxx (something something. I don't know)
Friend: I never seen one like that before. What kind of bass is it?

This continues for a couple minutes since they were a bit drunk and then followed by more gushing about the band. The sound got better and the singer starting her bouncy electrified guitar playing and I look over to these guys connecting to the band on stage. Each time they chatted I wanted to turn and say "Yes! Exactly!"

Because you know that wouldn't be weird or anything.

my guard is down

I'm trying to forget the last two weeks that I have trouble remembering.

Made choices to stay local in the evenings and one day in the sun walking among plants and turtles of the LA Arboretum for the Garden Show. Walked the path to the back eventually picking out a bench near the waterfall to eat lunch as peacocks circled for a better look. Left with a plant from the Cal Poly booth and a little packet of heatstroke for the memories.

Instead of Harbor Blvd. I stayed on Sunset last Wednesday laughing in chairs on Safari Sam's patio over the cuteness a friend has found themselves in. Seeing smiles makes me happy as did seeing one of my favorite bands She's Your Sister - always good. Overnight Lows played a flat set until the end when Jules sat down at the keyboards and sang one song and jumped off the stage for the last. It was discussed how great they can be when they remember what being a pop band means. Where was the snap? Where was the crackle? Caught the tail end of the Clash tribute band - I liked them - nowhere as annoying as Sweet and Tender Hooligans who ruined that concept for me years ago.

Speaking of ruined...well May 5th came and went leaving me in thoughts (not memories) that I needed to decipher.

So far: Settling for less is what I've done in the past. Losing inspiration, losing my religion, losing touch with my smiles. May 5th was a reminder of how far I've gone and what I'm looking for. May 5th was an anniversary she forgot while we were together - Oh she wanted the boring gifts and lavishes for every occasion while I just wanted acknowledgment on the one day that meant something to me. These things don't happen overnight. **

I've stopped expecting anything more from people. Sometimes I expect less. Lately people have surprised me and I lowered my guard a little more in respect to a remembered concept of "trust."

It's scary how open I've been to people these last two weeks.


**A little clarification: This is just one thought about one day. I try not to finger point without also pointing it at myself too. I made mistakes and I made choices.

5.03.07 - old draft

I took a chance with her and spoke my recent secrets. One was about May 5th and how that still lingers, the other was where her questions eventually wandered. Already within my gate her curiosity to where my current interests laid was not unexpected.

"Nowhere as far as I know," was my response and then added it was more fun to write about infatuations then to actually participate in them. "We both know how bad I am at it; the shyness, the step backward doubts of opening up. You've read my stuff to know this. You read about to what extent I over thought the simplest things...like the DG situation."

"Is that the one that didn't call you?"

No and I didn't expect a response either. The very rare times I put myself out there, I'm realistic if anything. No this was way before that."

So I tell the story again to new ears


"You know how sappy I can be right?"
"Yeah. And how I like to daydream about my fantasy life? Well imagine all that times ten."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I always knew it wasn't real but..."
"Wait who was this?"
"xxxxxxxxx."
She repeated the name three times savoring the vowels, drawing a blank.
"xxxxxxx of such and such personal connection"
Well I said it in more detail.
"Does she know?"
"Pretty sure. It's not that I didn't make it obvious to her in other ways. There was this one time, actually it was a build up returned eye contact, then passing hellos, then there was this one night we talked and bam! my fantasy world hit reality. Seriously thinking wtf, right? And it overwhelmed me, it consumed me and all I wanted to be was normal around her."
"So what happened?"
"Nothing. I wasn't ready to try anything and I knew it. Never asked her out. I walked away from nothing (reality = realistic about my chances) but damn I loved being that inspired."
"Yet strangely it still comes off as boring."

Yeah I know.

my fingers ache. the joints ache. more later.

Shows

Tuesday
Great Northern CD release show @ the Echo
with Twilight Sleep and The Movies FREE

Porterville @ Bordello (formerly Little Pedros) $5
with the Fizzies
rumored to be back at kiss or kill soon - of course they're also playing with w/ Nous Non Plus at Safari Sam' on 5.25 (presented by The Fold)

Hello Dragon @ Silverlake Lounge $8
Chris Zerby and Julie Chadwick are/were? the band Helicopter Helicopter - I remember meeting one of them when kork was back at the Echo and I was quite drunk. I honestly don't know which one though. Maybe both? Um, that has nothing to do with anything but I do like the new sound of their current project Hello Dragon. Also I know that Julie hosts the vegan happy hour & potluck at the Short Stop on Thursdays. That's cool.

Wednesday:
Kiss or Kill presents @ Safari Sam's
** Pu$y Cow 2yr Anniversary Show **
The Black Comets 9:30, Just added Beatmo 10.15, Pu$$y Cow 11:00,
The Fuxedos 11:45, Steel 12:30

Thursday:
Hearts of Palm UK @ Silverlake Lounge $7
heard nice things but haven't seen them yet. well I think I was over dramatically doing laundry next to one of them couple months ago at Lucy's...does that count?

Long Beach shows
Forcefield On, The Happy Hollows,
The Soft Hands, ends with New Fidelity ,
@ The Prospector $5 10pm

Deep Sea Diver (Jessica Dobson) @ Alex's Bar 11 pm $3
with The Victorians, This Evening there will be thunder & lightening

blaaaaaaaaaaah

Delta Spirit @ The Echo
with Sparrow Love Crew, The Shys, Deep Sea Diver

My schedule this month is in such a jumble that I can't go to this show mere blocks away from home. Sigh. Well if you're in EP tonight look for the fireworks after the Dodger game, say 10ish? wait is that tonight?

missing LoveLikeFire at the sliverlake lounge too. blah.

~~~~~

There is now a presale for the Rentals July residency at Spaceland. Ticket sales start tomorrow (5.12) at noon at a reduced price of $15. 2 ticket limit - password: barcelona @ ticketweb.com or 866.468.3399

~~~~~~
blah - I have a hundred miles of rush hour driving to look forward to this evening. If you need me I'll be on the 5 and maybe the 405 for the heck of it on the way back. yay me.

5.02.07 - old draft.

I have nothing.
Spitting blanks and refreshing pages will not get you anywhere.
I'm tired of these fake posts of last week. I give you videos. I give you listings for things I won't even attend. Somewhat honest, sometimes irrelevant, sometimes too many thoughts lately. I haven't been truthful with what I write here - so instead of opening up I close down. I give you videos. I give you listings for things I'm not even going to.

one day I hope to tell you the same thing.

Band: The Information from Boston
Song: The Theft (youtube link)
Download more songs at theinformation.net



Why: I stopped trying to answer that question years ago.
sometimes it just happens and I'm ok with that.

wed 5.9.07

Deep Sea Diver and the Slings = yay!
My Pet Saddle 7.30, Slings 8.15, Deep Sea Diver 9.30
$5, all ages @ Plush Cafe + Lounge a cool internet cafe in lovely Fullerton.

Kiss or Kill presents @ Safari Sam's $3/5 - all ages
9:30 pm - Clash City Rockers (An Early Clash Tribute Band),
10:15 pm - Overnight Lows (shut up. I like super pop) , 11:00 pm- The Rainman Suite,
11:45 pm - She's Your Sister (great chicago rock) , 12:30 am - RockPaperScissors

Corey is going to:
Death to Anders, Karabal Nightlife (I keep meaning to see them),
Soft Hands (very good), Wake Up Incinerate
at the Silverlake Lounge $10 21+

4.30.07 - old draft

I had a sales rep in my office the other day pushing softgels since those are the things I like to buy in bulk. I don't like to buy office supplies.

She was nice and sweet and talked about commutes and vacations and for a few minutes there I felt that I mattered. Realized how knowledgeable I am about what I do since I never talk shop with people outside of work these days. Heck I don't even talk to people at work anymore. No water cooler boils, no 7.45 am kaffeeklatsch anymore since the smart left long ago.

Now I barely drink coffee
Now I barely talk.

This weekend was suppose to be no different. Went out three or four times during the week (8+ bands) and my free weekend shut in my apartment. Within minutes coming home on Friday I received an invite for late afternoon gelato with a friend. The first hour went by unnoticed. We laughed at the two hour mark. We didn't leave until they turned off the lights at closing at nearly four hours passing.

How did that happen?



Saturday I never left my place. Sat at the kitchen table with my morning cup listening to the new Bjork and Lucky Soul albums then the Slings produced compilation JP picked up at last weeks Deep Sea Diver show. A book, a glass of water with distractions of cool breeze cross circulation, the group walks to service at the Angelues Temple, the swaying of palm trees eye level to my third floor apartment.

I love Echo Park noises.

Sunday was equally unproductive save for long phone calls to family and friends, a quick shot to Albertsons after a minor spoil of McDonald's. As I sat inside treating myself to junk (but it's been so long!) I thought about how not lonely I felt among the families chatting and mothers yelling to sit still to the little ones eager to finish and hit the playground plastic, the playground rubber mats.

Sometimes it's nice to be alone, not lonely,
for awhile.



random:
courtesy of myspace reconnections, I just noticed that I've dated at least two (current) Ph.D.s. weird.

It's not real. It's not real. Not real. Not real.

First words spoken before my feet touched carpet. How did she managed to escape my daydreams, that hold of fantasies away from my everyday life? My nights are often blank and yet there I found her smiling.

No, no and it was a good dream.
A good dream of a simple hi and hello and awkward feet off the ground.

LA Garden Show - sat /sun

Instead of seeing any shows this weekend (does Sunday night count?) I'll be stopping by the LA Garden Show this weekend at The Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Gardens in lovely Fantasy Island Arcadia.

I don't like to garden but I do like to dream of buying a house and having a cool landscape designer come in and create a miniature version of the Getty gardens for me. Something interesting, modern and unique. Good thing my friend Ashley is already part of cool landscape design firm with her talented mom and sister who just happen to also have designed a demonstration garden as part of the show.

plug: Ketti Kupper.com - see flyer for more info

Now I just need to win the lottery for a down payment on a house.

From the LA Garden Show blurb:

Learn how to design your garden some of from the best designers in Southern California, buy one-of-a-kind plants, shop at The Marketplace and meet well-know garden experts and authors. The ongoing demonstrations, entertainment and food will create a weekend-long celebration for all to enjoy. Bring your own wagon.
For more information, call (626) 821-3243

May 5-6th, 2007
LA Garden Show Hours are 9am to 4:30pm
Early admission for Arboretum Members is 8am
Reg admission fees apply: $2.50 - $7.00, members free

The Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden
301 North Baldwin Avenue, Arcadia, CA, 91007.

I guess I'm taking a short break from posting. this normally means I'll end up posting five things tomorrow. many drafts - all boring stuff as usual. all I can say is that I actually had to stop reading certain blogs of strangers. sometimes I remember things again.

not depressed - just reflecting

On an up note...

The Rentals @ Spaceland every Sat in July!


Also #1 this random blog I found a few months ago amuses me in it's tone.
Also #2 Tony Pierce has been blogging at a normal pace again. this makes me happy.

Kiss or Kill moving to El Cid

Kiss or Kill Venue Change Starting in June

May will be our last month at Safari Sam's, as we move our weekly Kiss or Kill night to El Cid starting Weds. June 6th. We hope to see everyone come out & support our final weekly shows at Sam's!

We have a great time at Safari Sam's & are leaving the door open to doing future one off events. They have been amazing host's & more importantly great friends. We want to get back to our roots & reaffirm the communal aspect of the club. We are excited to work with Tobin Shea again who inspired the initial concept behind Kiss or Kill at the Garage.

Cover will remain the same, & the night will be 18+.

We will be kicking off the night with a Kiss or Kill Homecoming Dance! With the Miss Kiss or Kill 07 pageant', the winner will win a bar tab & a guest starring role in the next Chissum Worthington Video! Details will be coming out soon...

Kiss or Kill/Metal Skool Monday at the Key Club will still be the first Monday of every month & the monthly at Alex's Bar in Long Beach is still on schedule.

Infused Tequila all around.

Happy Cinco De Mayo!
J99

[old rumor confirmed finally]

Nothing against Safari Sam's as it is still one of better sounding venues (with good sight lines, and nice staff too) in Los Angeles, but was way too big for the Kiss or Kill crowd these days and never had the type of patio (permanent, less visible) that would be productive for all night socializing. Sort of felt like having bad birthday party in a prison yard with Home Depot decorations. And the view of the 99cent store parking lot wasn't as much as a problem as that it always felt like the fugly lights were shining down on us. You know what I'm talking about; Darkness increases everyone's odds.

They tried (more so than the Echo), Kiss or Kill tried but the reality is that El Cid with all it's nooks and crannies, not to mention a hella great outside patio, is the best venue for the club right now.

This move is not to become bigger, it's just about becoming better.