On the last night of a month-long tour, Esser and DATAROCK (and KAV for the West Coast) were playing a venue in Seattle rhat completely dropped the ball with the show’s production. The sound was terrible and non-existent in the monitors and the promoter was not-to-be-found until about 10pm and booked this terrible hipster rap act that ate up the headliner’s set time and threw water all over the stage (which doesn’t mix well with electronics!). Also, Seattle (and maybe all of Washington) has this bogus law about “No alcoholic beverages onstage”. All in all, it was a weird scene. But we made the best of it until finally the band was asked to stop playing around 1:30 am.

On top of this, the last night of any tour is subject to some ribbing, some hijinks…you know, shenanigans. One camera can’t possible do this night justice but I can hope that this sheds a little light on the situation. A cautionary tale.

When Buddy Holly died 50 years ago today, he was only 22. But I feel as if music still hasn’t caught up. In that short amount of time he spent on earth he forged a legacy that has kept him as relevant as he was in 1959. Buddy was the real thing. He wrote his own songs, his ideas were as far “out there” as any could be (pre-LSD). Because you’ve heard his songs a million times then maybe you don’t notice it, but his croon, warble and hiccup vocal delivery is other worldly. His rhythm guitar playing is so simple, subtle and sophisticated that you probably don’t notice how FAST he is really playing! On top of all of that his peculiar studio methods and instrumentation would precursor the innovations of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. (The Beatles also took their name in part from The Crickets and the ‘Stones had an early hit with “Not Fade Away”) His influence is immeasurable to the degree that you would be hard-pressed to find a legend who WASN’T influenced by the bespectacled son of Lubbock, Texas. For that reason, Buddy Holly Lives!

Read the rest of this entry »

The 80s resurge is over, folks. But wait, you say, so much of this flashy dayglo bullshit is everywhere still?! True, but it’s just the remnance of a refad. If we are talking about things overstaying their welcome, all of that late 90′s  Nickleback bullshit is still hanging around like a dead corpse as well, right? (Who the fuck listens to HINDER, anyway?)

But one item obsucure and unique that we resurrected from the early age of MTV is the movie Liquid Sky (1982). Oh holy fuck is this movie a goddamned amazing  piece of crap! It gives me  a boner and a toothache as well as some heroin withdrawals just thinking about it! It was directed and produced by Soviet immigrant Slava Tsukerman with a budget of $500,000 and was filmed primarily in a Greenwich Village loft converted to a soundstage. What is a mystery to me is how they raised that kind of dough to make this film? They had to  have pitched the plot to investors to get them to put up the money to make it. What kind of sick rich fuck would have been cool/smart/crazy enough to put up the money for this flick?

Read the rest of this entry »

I was hanging around with some folks in Echo Park the day after Thanksgiving and the occasion came up that someone needed to cut something random like a stray piece of string on someones shirt. Just then a few people offered their pocket knives. And when they put them away I noticed they all had the same thing: A small pocket knife with a metal handle and a locking 3½” inch blade in the front pocket of their jeans. Since then I’ve started noticing a lot of people (especially on the eastside) with a little silver clip on the outside of their dominant hand side jeans pocket.

I know this is the big city and things can be kinda Skeksis around here but is the knife for protection, for it’s many utilitarian functions or because everyone else has one? I just took a mental inventory of my living areas and as it ends up, I have a lot of knives just laying around. I cook, so I have a few in my kitchen, a few xacto knives for many incomplete art projects, a couple utility knives in a drawer and my toolbox and pretty big knife I keep in my car… just in case. So I guess it makes sense to just have one on you at all times.

Read the rest of this entry »

Its been a Long Weekend. It’s fairly safe to say that I packed the most between 7:30 Friday when I got off work through 5am Monday morning when I went to sleep that I possibly could. I absolutely destroyed myself and feel great. Well, I felt pretty good this morning at least. Then work kicked my ass again. :sigh:

I managed to drink probably a gallon of whiskey. I’m not bragging, I’m just telling you thats whats up. I didn’t try to do so, I just went out every night. I was a little sluggish Sunday morning but no hangovers! Friday I hit the strip, I hadn’t in a while and was by no means disappointed. Rainbow, Barney’s Beanery and some sushi bar near the Viper Room (irony?) that had snake venom shots. It was this “vodka” that tasted like sake (it might’ve just been sake) and it had a whole dead snake in it. The sushi bartender had to pour it through a filter as to avoid filling the drink with scales. And the night ended well enough for me to not make it home until the following afternoon. Saturday I went to breakfast and actually got some excercise in the afternoon and topped it off with lots more drinking at On the Rox, Free drinks at another Sushi Restaurant and finally the Snake Pit. Sunday’s slow start allowed me to not get much cleaning done in my apartment and then surprise², I went out and drank. I hit up Cinespace and checked out a band that I’d seen a couple times before and have to say their show has improved quite a bit. 3 free Kentucky Breakfasts in the VIP area later and the night ended in conversations about Tony Danza and the Joe Dirt script in Greco’s Pizza. On top of that I watched Blade Runner, The Decline of Western Civilization and finished the Program design for Hastings High’s production of “Honk!” So yeah. Now I’m tired. And I’ve spared you the rigorous and juicy details. Somehow, I want to once again be paid for doing what I’ve done this weekend.

So on the job front I have to announce that an Ad that I designed will be making its way into Playboy, Rue Morgue and Fangoria next month (or the month after, I’m not sure). I said this before when I had a Sex In The City ad (not in the horror mags) that got shot down 5 minutes before I was going to upload the Mechanical. I announced it and then It didn’t happen. I counted my chickens before they hatched and the eggs were full of snakes. But this time. I don’t care. The Ad they chose was once again mine (with elements borrowed from one of the Key Art Comps) but it has the STUPIDEST quote as the headline so I’m not taking full credit. I still wrote a bit of copy in it and I’ve toiled too many hours on it so I guess now I’m kinda proud of it. Even if it looks fucking cheesy. Oh well, the movie that It’s for is cheesy, too.

To wrap this up I wanted to share with you a bit of a moral dilemma that presented itself to me at the end Zombie Jesus Day as I was arriving at Cinespace. I was crossing Hollywood Blvd at Ivar and I noticed these 3 loud cunts dropping N-bombs while 2 of the 3 were white. A second later I notice them starting to assault the man who was walking behind them. He was in his 70s. They roughed him up a bit, he pushed one in the face somewhat and they knocked off his hat and probably stole it. It was sad. I turned around to help him and looked at the hipsters in front of the club and none of them seemed to share my need to help the poor bastard. I also realized that these 3 hoodrats could probably stomp me (but not if I had another dude helping) and I was also fearful that these cunts would call the cops and say that WE assaulted them. So like an asshole I stayed out of it. As I walked into the club the door guy(6’5″ 225 lbs.) said, “Only in Hollywood, right?”. “I guess” I said, wondering why he didnt abandon his post to help (there was someone else there that could have watched the door).

So I pose this question to you. What would you do in the same situation?
Leave a comment.