Posts by admin
RIP: Alice In Chains’ Layne Staley
The season’s first thunderstorm swept through Manhattan last night, churning up an orangish-brown sky, and unleashing waves of rain and wind on the city’s scurrying inhabitants. I sat in my window sill and watched it blow in from New Jersey, then rush away through midtown. It was beautiful. I awoke at 7:36 to the phone…
Read MoreBones And Such (Are Paper Thin)
I’m back on the vicodin. I had another tooth pulled this afternoon, my third in three months. It was a bottom right molar: another baby tooth, another without a replacement waiting in the wings, another gift of genetics. It’s one more chapter in a long and painful dental record: extractions in grammar school, retainers in…
Read MoreOn The Inevitability Of Rejection
I’m watching MTV “Cribs” out of the corner of my eye this afternoon at work, and I see Blink-182’s drummer showing off a sick, amazing pad, and, like, a dozen cars in his driveway. I’m like, “Where did he get all that coin? Do Mark and Tom share publishing credit? Have they sold that many…
Read MoreNew York City, Cynical Capital of the World
So, Saturday’s show, in retrospect… Well, it was a huge success, all things considered. We had never rehearsed or performed a full acoustic set, let alone without a drummer, let alone with an upright bass. Tony and Paul sat on stools, but I stood to keep my energy level up. I scribbled a smiley face…
Read MoreSore All Over
I’m not sure I can do another weekend like this anytime soon. What, with parental units visiting from the Midwest, a half-marathon, a rock show — damn, I’m sore all over. Still, I wouldn’t have it any other way. That is, I keep sayin’, and I believe it, that life is short; I can rest…
Read More:46 ‘Til 1:51:12 Later
I should be showering and getting dressed for tonight’s big show, but my dedication to you, fair reader, is such that here I am, just an hour and 46 minutes from show time, logging an entry… Thing is, it’s already been a loooong day. Woke to my brother’s call at 6:38 am. They were one…
Read MoreI Fired The Drummer
The band for Saturday’s show just got a little leaner; I fired the drummer. Last night’s rehearsal was completely un-fun, just inches from a train wreck the entire time because the new guy was still unprepared. Really nice guy, but unprepared. It was truly painful. I was all set to wing it Saturday anyway, and…
Read MoreTop Down, Summer Sorta’ Record
Sheryl Crow came to work today. She played the cafeteria, I shit you not. It was like a high school assembly. But with Sheryl Crow. Ok, so my day job has occasional perks. John Norris was doing some pre-show Q&A and characterized her new album, “C’mon, C’mon,” as a “top down summer sorta’ record.” And…
Read MoreNAB
The National Association of Broadcasters convention is like a boat show for tv nerds. The ratio of men to women is 10 to 1. The standard uniform is a golf shirt with a company logo on the chest. Guys are walking around with free Adobe tote bags stuffed with pens, pamphlets and paraphenelia. People are…
Read MoreLanding This Thing
We’ve reached our cruising altitude of 35,000 feet some 1900 miles east of Las Vegas. It’s Sunday night, 10 minutes before 6 EDT. I’m fresh from the lavatory, having rid myself of a Sam Adams I downed to lubricate a Vicodin and a half, which seems to be doing its job. That is, despite three…
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