Come out and support local music and recover from St. Patty’s Day with us!
Hey everyone!
I’m playing this Saturday, Valentine’s Day @ the Ruby Room with Joanie Mendenhall and Miss Erika Davies. We’ll all be playing stripped-down solo sets, which should make for for an intimate night of great V-Day music, red candy and heart-shaped baked goods included!!!
See you Saturday, and don’t forget to bring us some of those little heart candies with the cheesy slogans...
Greg
The woman separated from me by the seats containing my mother, my father, and the cavernous aisle where the flight attendant set packages of peanuts and pretzels down in a life and death struggle for supremacy can’t stop playing with her hair. She doesn’t find herself more than a page or two further in her sloppy sceince-fiction-mess-of-a-novel before her attention swings back to the carefully placed lock of hair alongside her quickly shriveling, old face. As I sit watching her attempt to mitigate her concern for the flailing words on the page in front of her and and the loose curl falling from her head next to the aisle, her face visibly ages months, possibly a year from the effects of her inconsistent concentration, and the obscene number of peanuts she shovels into her mouth. She seems stuck to that seat in a matching grey Russell Athletics sweatsuit, as if out of the gym and onto the plane, yet her face, which continues to age without the slightest of graces, handily displays a new pair of diamond-encrusted Gucci reading glasses next to the piece of hair that she can’t help but molest. All the better to ignore her book with every few minutes
As we reach cruising altitude, she pulls yet another book from her designer handbag, and as if to say juggling her indecisive self-image and neurotic fiddling fingers with one book in front of her eyes wasn’t quite enough, the woman braces a book in each hand. She succeeds miserably in casting herself wise and efficient beyond her many years, only because it seemed to age her another ten. Returning from a trip to the lavatory, the woman struggled to wrench the seatbelt over her lap, opening it wider and wider, not the result of a massive gut (although by this time she had ingested more peanuts than a well-trained circus elephant), but rather the result of her impossibly large ass.
She was one of quite a few people on the plane who couldn’t control the shaking of their nervously bouncing collective legs, possibly because we were more than thirty minutes late. Her attention drifted even further from the novels displacing her hands, and she asked the flight attendant how long we had until touchdown. I could see him wince at giving her the satisfaction of an answer as she stared off somewhere beyond the nose of the plane into the wild blue disappearing yonder, and her face began to shed the years and wrinkles she had accumulated during the flight, accompanied by just as much grace as they had been ushered in with. The flight attendant snickered as he walked to his seat, the plane careening toward its target next to the Pacific Ocean, still upset that only an hour before, he had sent those pretzels and peanuts racing down the aisle in a sorry attempt at humor, and as we shot skyward the woman had stolen the peanuts from that cavernous aisle partially separating me from her wrinkled face, thus thwarting his attempt to cast me as a member of the “pretzel” half of the plane.
Sitting at home, painting, playing music, nailing things together. Eating some curried rice and drinking chamomile tea. Reflecting on the year we’re about to bring to a close and the new year that’s rapidly approaching. Hoping that all of my expectations find themselves a place in reality is not nearly enough. Hope must cede to tireless effort.
The perfect rainy day music – absolutely mind blowing…
The folks over at the venerable New York Times have catalogued quite a few of the best ideas of the year on their website. Here, in alphabetical order, are my favorites from the list.
1.) The Biomechanical Energy Harvester – This device draws energy from the negative action of someone’s pedestrian motion, and stores it in a small lithium-ion battery on the knee-brace looking aluminum chassis. They say it can power a walkie-talkie, cell phone, and more, and is already on tap for the Canadian armed forces, who depend on lightweight, portable energy. With the gadget weighing in at a mere 2.5 pounds, and easily worn underneath pants, I smell an human energy movement in the near future. As Science Now so perfectly put, “this gives new meaning to the term ‘power walking.’”
2.) The Climate-Change Defense – Six Greenpeace activists in Britain decided to test the common-sense rule that one can trespass, and even cause harm if it is proven that you are working to avert certain disaster, for example, breaking into your neighbor’s house to put out a fire. The activists painted the PM’s name on a smokestack and won the case against energy company E.ON, claiming that the $50,000 the company incurred to clean the paint was insignificant compared to the carbon they were harmfully contributing to the atmosphere. Well done! Even former VP Al Gore has called on young people to engage in “civil disobedience to prevent the construction of new coal plants that do not have carbon capture and sequestration.”
4.) The Cloth Car –
A CLOTH CAR!! Once again, A CLOTH CAR!?! Who in their right mind thought this would be a great idea? Yet it is.
That’s right, BMW’s ‘GINA’ concept car is, as Leo DiCaprio warbled in the Aviator over and over, “The wave of the future. The wave of the future.” The GINA has an ultra-strong polyurethane lycra body that flexes when the doors are opened and separates like a zipper to reveal the engine. Wild, right? Yes, but the clever part of the car is it’s shape-shifting ability. The car’s shape can be changed via electric and electro-hydraulic controls to suit different driving conditions, and when the engine is off, the steering wheel and dash lay flat to provide more room in the cockpit!! BMW is already implementing some of the high-concept ammenities in production M4 vehicles, and said that the lycra covering is promising due to much lower production costs when compared to a standard body. I want one!
5.) Fast-Food Zoning – In an effort to curb their ludicrous 30% adult obesity rate, South Los Angeles officials have drafted an unheard-of one year moratorium on fast-food restaurant creation within a 32 square mile area. A staggering 50% of South LA’s eateries are fast-food, and the hope is that healthier opportunities will be encouraged. Why does this not happen everywhere, especially considering the childhood obesity epidemic we’re facing in this nation?
6.) Minicattle – Yes, miniature cattle. I know it might seem laughable, and certainly not likely to stand out among the greatest ideas of this calendar year, but hear me out…
The trend in American agriculture heretofore has often been “bigger is better” over the past half-century, with the average cattle size growing by nearly 400 pounds in just 50 years. However, larger cows don’t necessarily mean more efficient cows. Leave it to a year when we find ourselves in recession for farmers to find out that although miniature cattle yield only half the milk that a 1300 pound beast might, they consume only a third of the grain. Minicattle productivity is twice that of a normal-sized heifer per acre!! They’re more docile, too…
The solution seems simple right???
7.) Neo-Neo Soul – With the music business in a constant state of flux, record execs and public taste in 2008 have sought to replicate 2007′s big hit, Neo-Soul. Most notably, the utter dominance of England’s soul diva turned royal junkie, Amy Winehouse.
I mean who wouldn’t look at her and think, success? The Times article touts Duffy and Adele, two new British soulsmiths, as Wino’s successors, claiming that despite their collective lack of Winehouse’s gutter gusto, each has had modest commercial success. At least, enough to call it a phenomenon.
I have two problems with this assumption, though. I agree that we are smack-dab in the middle of a soul music revival, and it couldn’t make me more happy. Wino’s Back to Black was a perfect synthesis of homage to soul history and document of the current musical landscape, with it’s hints of hip-hop and indie aesthetic. But, neither Duffy or Adele were successful in capturing the magic that Back to Black had. The real successor to Winehouse in my opinion is British white GUY Jamie Lidell and his record JIM. Lidell used to dabble in electronica as half of the duo Super Collider, but over the past two albums has embraced the Neo-Soul movement with arms and legs wide open. His voice is classic soul with a quirkiness that sets him apart from the other imitators. Plus, his backing band is unbelievable!
Lastly, if Amy Winehouse’s record was so successful, I am flabbergasted that no one attempts to save her from herself. I am sure that Back to Black made quite a few people (including the singer herself) a lot of money, but Winehouse is killing herself slowly with drugs in front of the whole world, and not a thing seems to be done about it. For goodness sake, someone stop the madness so she can make another record…
8.) Smart Grids – This is the future of energy maintainance and optimization. There are those that say Smart Grids, if utilized and implemented by an Obama Administration, would radically alter the energy picture in the US, and this alone would bring a singular greatness to his presidency. The technology is already there, and has been utilized to great affect in Austin, TX and Bouldedr, CO, and is on its way to more forward-thinking cities soon. In my opinion, the creation of a smart grids nationwide, and the jobs that this work would make available, is crucial to an Obama energy plan, and would drastically alter America’s status as a leader in energy conservation. You can read more about smart grids HERE.
9.) Wine From China –
Move over Napa, China will soon be taking a strangle-hold on the wine industry. With an abundance of cheap labor, incredibly fertile soil, and the nation’s increasingly informed pallette, China is poised to snag a large part of the world’s market in wine. There are already a handful of good wines coming from the over-populated country, and with sommeliers pouring into the country to educate Chinese grape growers, China could soon dominate as much as 50% of the global wine market. Crazy!
Keep my pants on with a skinny brown belt.
Keep my wits about me pretending I never felt
Your little hands touching my face
Well darlin you’re easy to sell
Pull my jacket over my wasted frame
Pull your arm around me and it feels the same
Your head melting up against my arm
Getting so close, my you’re a fancy dame
Stick around for a little while and sing
Stick your hand in mine let me feel that sting
Bittersweet Blues sneaking up behind me
Whispering your name in my ear got that familiar ring
Walk a little while with me tonight
Walk along the river as they turn out the lights
I don’t care who you’re looking at tomorrow
Just stare me down now with your cold-hearted eyes
Someone told me you’re loving another man
Someone said stay away from her if you can
But I know a trainwreck when I see one
And I’m crossing the tracks with a plan
Stick around for a little while and sing
Stick your hand in mine let me feel that sting
Bittersweet Blues sneaking up behind me
Whispering your name in my ear got that familiar ring
Well it’s these Bittersweet Blues that I have
and you’re making them last
Hey everyone, I’m playing next Sunday, Dec. 7th, at the Ruby Room in Hillcrest (1271 University Ave). The show starts @ 9PM and it’s FREE! Should be a great show with two other amazing local bands, Manuok and The Old Palominos. Hope to see you there!
If you haven’t heard yet, Manuok just released an amazing new album “No End To Limitations.” GO BUY IT!
It’s getting warm now; sun baking the stop sign slightly facing me from the other side of the street. The red might fall right off, leave the whole damn thing white, the word ‘STOP’ still existing right there, but you can’t see it for anything, what with all that white. Drivers minding their own business see that milky octagon up on their right, but go barreling through that intersection as if it didn’t exist, like a dog hopping a fence that’s smack dab in the way of the milkman he’s trying to chase.
With all those cars chasing their respective milkmen, of course all hell breaks loose right there in the middle of the intersection and the hot white stop sign is standing there straight-and-narrow like, laughing its brains out.
While we’re on the subject of younger, transformative politicians… Here’s Lance Armstrong’s open letter to President-Elect Obama regarding cancer research and the important role it should play in an Obama administration. Lance truly understands the facts and dire consequences should we not continue to step up the fight against cancer, and he is arguably one of the greatest figures in the history of our search for a cure. Despite his possible involvement in the widespread doping of cycling’s past, and his very public relationships with a variety of famous women, he remains a beacon of hope for so many cancer patients. Not to mention he looks pretty presidential in a suit…
The new future of politics. Keeping your constituency and the general public abreast of policy, progress, and potentiality through the world wide web. Anyone going to apply for a job?
