25.7.08
9:25 Thursday Night in San Diego
This year is going to be some kind of record low of blog posts. I'm sorry. Hello from San Diego, California, where I sit on the 17th floor of the W hotel eating a salad before heading off to the long awaited screening of Fanboys, by my pal Kyle Newman. I'm really excited for this.
I got here this afternoon after spending most of the week in Cheyenne, Wyoming doing research and checking out locations for a project I have recently become involved in. Man, it's incredible there. It's the heart of Dick Cheney country. Being a city boy, it's easy to forget that entire big chunk o land between NY and LA. It's scary and exciting all at the same time. I don't want to get too deep into the story, its a true story, nothing to do with the kinda project you'd associate me with, and very liberating for those very reasons. I saw and learned a lot in these last few days, very educational, very life changing. Its a big difference going from telling a story from the funny books to working on someones real life. Hopefully will get some pix to show you soon. Man, America scares the living shit out of me sometimes. While this story is very intense and very scary, it eventually becomes a wonderful positive tale of redemption. Cheyenne was a great reality check for your hero to put a lot of shit in perspective.
Anyway, back here in SD, already dropped way too much cash on the convention floor in under 60 minutes. But the kids, and Irene are all now hooked up with goodies and your hero can get to work on meetings and shit. Darwyn gave me a fresh out of the box autographed copy of his new book. What a treat! 2:45 tmo is the big SPIRIT panel and man I am scared shitless of the reaction. I hope its good. Meanwhile, the studio is promoting the fuck out of it here, so I give them props for that. Again though, the con is too big now. Comics are an afterthought. My time on the floor will be minimal. Yes I sound cranky about it, but while walking through the floor today, I realized this is a pretty sweet gig. Again, perspective.
More later. Time to feel the force...
F
I got here this afternoon after spending most of the week in Cheyenne, Wyoming doing research and checking out locations for a project I have recently become involved in. Man, it's incredible there. It's the heart of Dick Cheney country. Being a city boy, it's easy to forget that entire big chunk o land between NY and LA. It's scary and exciting all at the same time. I don't want to get too deep into the story, its a true story, nothing to do with the kinda project you'd associate me with, and very liberating for those very reasons. I saw and learned a lot in these last few days, very educational, very life changing. Its a big difference going from telling a story from the funny books to working on someones real life. Hopefully will get some pix to show you soon. Man, America scares the living shit out of me sometimes. While this story is very intense and very scary, it eventually becomes a wonderful positive tale of redemption. Cheyenne was a great reality check for your hero to put a lot of shit in perspective.
Anyway, back here in SD, already dropped way too much cash on the convention floor in under 60 minutes. But the kids, and Irene are all now hooked up with goodies and your hero can get to work on meetings and shit. Darwyn gave me a fresh out of the box autographed copy of his new book. What a treat! 2:45 tmo is the big SPIRIT panel and man I am scared shitless of the reaction. I hope its good. Meanwhile, the studio is promoting the fuck out of it here, so I give them props for that. Again though, the con is too big now. Comics are an afterthought. My time on the floor will be minimal. Yes I sound cranky about it, but while walking through the floor today, I realized this is a pretty sweet gig. Again, perspective.
More later. Time to feel the force...
F
18.7.08
15.7.08
He Is Legend.
On the wall in the ladies room at the Purple Shamrock bar in Boston...
...picture courtesy of L.L.
13.7.08
Gonna come down for the coming down.
Friends, it's been so long. I'm sorry. There's work, music, the movie (look for the new posters on the street), Fernwood columns, drama, bullshit, gigs, and forthcoming trips all keeping me away from you.
Been doing my thing, last week was cool as G, The Kidd, and I caught up with Bryan Black, and we ventured down to the old hood to check out Mr. Eric Powell and 16Volt's first gig here in NY in about 5 years. This was very similar to the Chemlab experience back in December, including the nice kids from Cyanotic opening. Black is great to hang with, he just had a VERY cute baby named Bowie. Adorable. Here's a pic of me, Black and Sean Cyanotic:
Anyhow, Eric came on and KICKED IT. I'm seriously. His current album, if I haven't mentioned it already, is probably the best of the "coldwave comebacks" over the last 5 years. Hearing the stuff live felt great and not out of place with the hits. His band, which feature 16v Vet Mike Peoples, Steve from Pig, and the same drummer Jared was using last year, who is awesome, was tight and fierce. Great crowd too. Lotta familiar faces like Steve Debello and some old school aggression fans. When people remember you playing CB's, it was worth it ;-)
So after this, a few days later, my back crapped out on me. This is an annual thing. I tried a new chiropractor, and he was ok, and close to the apt, but the pinched nerve really fucked me up and I spent 4th of July weekend laid the fuck out. However, I did get up to go buy the new New Order DVD, which I watched in it's entirety in one sitting. It's pretty good, plus to watch the Hot Too in action is good enough for me. Anyhow, B had his folks in town, so I am not sure we would have gotten too musical, but we picked up the slack this week and I got to play some F-Bass through the clone theory, which is my fave thing to do. Singing is not, and thank you b for introducing me to someone we mutually know who is now referred to as YCS aka You Can't Sing. Fuck, I can't even look at this guy.
While laid out, I did some new "artwork" for Ash (read: he tells me what to do and I do it in 5 minutes). He has some new beats up on his MS, so check that shit out: http://www.myspace.com/bayemv. More of that coming soon. Also, me, IB and Jess, saw WANTED, which I thought was very cool. Not great, and certainly not the comic, but rockin' none the less. Macavoy is a star, but Angie is too thin. I think it could have been harder and nastier, like the comic, but what the hell do I know about making movies based on comics. You know, Todd.
Brought my ass up to Harlem yesterday for the Evan Birthday Bowling Extravaganza. It was actually the first time in a month the Monday Night crew of me, G, Kidd, Lurch and Evan were all together in the same place. Which was nice. Lurch is back from Handsome Camp and looks like the camp did him well. Especially his haircut. In the meantime, here's is out special guest this weekend:
The guest is the one without the beard. Just FYI. We just watched the Jonas Brothers Rock Camp. I'm officially old. So I think that's where I am at at the moment. Upcoming includes going to The Dark Knight premiere on Monday night (thus delaying wrestling for a month straight) and then I hit the road next Monday for a week in Denver, Wyoming and San Diego. They're might be an LA stint after that as well. I'll let you know.
Be well, stay classy, assy.
F
P.S. you can ask g what the title of this entry means.
Been doing my thing, last week was cool as G, The Kidd, and I caught up with Bryan Black, and we ventured down to the old hood to check out Mr. Eric Powell and 16Volt's first gig here in NY in about 5 years. This was very similar to the Chemlab experience back in December, including the nice kids from Cyanotic opening. Black is great to hang with, he just had a VERY cute baby named Bowie. Adorable. Here's a pic of me, Black and Sean Cyanotic:
Anyhow, Eric came on and KICKED IT. I'm seriously. His current album, if I haven't mentioned it already, is probably the best of the "coldwave comebacks" over the last 5 years. Hearing the stuff live felt great and not out of place with the hits. His band, which feature 16v Vet Mike Peoples, Steve from Pig, and the same drummer Jared was using last year, who is awesome, was tight and fierce. Great crowd too. Lotta familiar faces like Steve Debello and some old school aggression fans. When people remember you playing CB's, it was worth it ;-)
So after this, a few days later, my back crapped out on me. This is an annual thing. I tried a new chiropractor, and he was ok, and close to the apt, but the pinched nerve really fucked me up and I spent 4th of July weekend laid the fuck out. However, I did get up to go buy the new New Order DVD, which I watched in it's entirety in one sitting. It's pretty good, plus to watch the Hot Too in action is good enough for me. Anyhow, B had his folks in town, so I am not sure we would have gotten too musical, but we picked up the slack this week and I got to play some F-Bass through the clone theory, which is my fave thing to do. Singing is not, and thank you b for introducing me to someone we mutually know who is now referred to as YCS aka You Can't Sing. Fuck, I can't even look at this guy.
While laid out, I did some new "artwork" for Ash (read: he tells me what to do and I do it in 5 minutes). He has some new beats up on his MS, so check that shit out: http://www.myspace.com/bayemv. More of that coming soon. Also, me, IB and Jess, saw WANTED, which I thought was very cool. Not great, and certainly not the comic, but rockin' none the less. Macavoy is a star, but Angie is too thin. I think it could have been harder and nastier, like the comic, but what the hell do I know about making movies based on comics. You know, Todd.
Brought my ass up to Harlem yesterday for the Evan Birthday Bowling Extravaganza. It was actually the first time in a month the Monday Night crew of me, G, Kidd, Lurch and Evan were all together in the same place. Which was nice. Lurch is back from Handsome Camp and looks like the camp did him well. Especially his haircut. In the meantime, here's is out special guest this weekend:
The guest is the one without the beard. Just FYI. We just watched the Jonas Brothers Rock Camp. I'm officially old. So I think that's where I am at at the moment. Upcoming includes going to The Dark Knight premiere on Monday night (thus delaying wrestling for a month straight) and then I hit the road next Monday for a week in Denver, Wyoming and San Diego. They're might be an LA stint after that as well. I'll let you know.
Be well, stay classy, assy.
F
P.S. you can ask g what the title of this entry means.
11.7.08
NOOOOOO!!!
Rocky Aoki, the Tokyo-born restaurateur whose Benihana steakhouse restaurants brought a version of Japanese teppanyaki cooking to the U.S. long before the explosive popularity of sushi, has died. He was 69.
Aoki died last night, according to a company spokeswoman, Nancy Bauer. Kyodo news service, citing unidentified people, said he died in New York City.
No cause was given. Aoki said publicly on several occasions that he suffered from diabetes and cirrhosis of the liver, as well as hepatitis C, which he said he contracted from a blood transfusion.
With Aoki as chief executive and chairman, Miami-based Benihana Inc. grew to run or license about 90 restaurants worldwide. They serve up steak, chicken and shrimp dishes prepared tableside by chefs trained to be showmen as well as cooks.
Aoki resigned in 1998, staying on as a $500,000-a-year consultant, amid a federal investigation of his personal investments. In 1999, he pleaded guilty to insider trading, acknowledging that he profited from a tip that Spectrum Information Technologies Inc. was about to hire former Apple Computer Inc. chief John Sculley.
Fined $500,000
Aoki was sentenced to three years' probation and fined $500,000. He told the New York Times in 2000 that he was worth $30 million to $40 million and still couldn't figure out why he had broken the law to make less than a half-million-dollar profit.
``I'm a risk-taker to start with,'' he said. ``I'm not a professional so-called investor. I kill myself for that. I don't know why I did it.''
As a risk-taker, Aoki sponsored and competed in offshore powerboat racing and suffered serious injuries during races in 1979 and 1982. He said in 1983 that he was retiring from the sport because it had become too dangerous. He also crossed the Pacific Ocean in a hot-air balloon in the early 1980s, Kyodo reported.
His family life was something of a show as well. Thrice married, Aoki admitted that three of his seven children were conceived, by different women, in a single one-year span. A 2006 New York magazine article on the family's legal battle over money said he had long kept a mistress hidden from his first wife, Chizuru -- and other girlfriends hidden from both of them.
Family Business
Hiroaki Aoki was born Oct. 9, 1938, in Tokyo. He and his three younger brothers grew up around their parents' restaurant and learned ``the importance of absolute cleanliness in the kitchen, using the freshest ingredients and the very best cooking tools money could buy,'' according to a company history on the restaurant chain's Web site.
Aoki earned a spot on the Japanese Olympic wrestling team and first traveled to the U.S. on an athletic scholarship. He adopted the name ``Rocky'' and sold ice cream in New York City by day while studying restaurant management at night, according to the company history. He was mugged three times and stabbed twice during his ice-cream-selling days, the history goes.
In 1964, he opened his first Benihana of Tokyo restaurant -- with four tables -- on West 56th Street. He opened a second restaurant just three blocks to the east, then one in Chicago. By 1972, he was running six branches.
Benihaha shares fell 25 cents today to $5.96 as of 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq stock market composite trading. It has dropped 53 percent so far this year.
Aoki died last night, according to a company spokeswoman, Nancy Bauer. Kyodo news service, citing unidentified people, said he died in New York City.
No cause was given. Aoki said publicly on several occasions that he suffered from diabetes and cirrhosis of the liver, as well as hepatitis C, which he said he contracted from a blood transfusion.
With Aoki as chief executive and chairman, Miami-based Benihana Inc. grew to run or license about 90 restaurants worldwide. They serve up steak, chicken and shrimp dishes prepared tableside by chefs trained to be showmen as well as cooks.
Aoki resigned in 1998, staying on as a $500,000-a-year consultant, amid a federal investigation of his personal investments. In 1999, he pleaded guilty to insider trading, acknowledging that he profited from a tip that Spectrum Information Technologies Inc. was about to hire former Apple Computer Inc. chief John Sculley.
Fined $500,000
Aoki was sentenced to three years' probation and fined $500,000. He told the New York Times in 2000 that he was worth $30 million to $40 million and still couldn't figure out why he had broken the law to make less than a half-million-dollar profit.
``I'm a risk-taker to start with,'' he said. ``I'm not a professional so-called investor. I kill myself for that. I don't know why I did it.''
As a risk-taker, Aoki sponsored and competed in offshore powerboat racing and suffered serious injuries during races in 1979 and 1982. He said in 1983 that he was retiring from the sport because it had become too dangerous. He also crossed the Pacific Ocean in a hot-air balloon in the early 1980s, Kyodo reported.
His family life was something of a show as well. Thrice married, Aoki admitted that three of his seven children were conceived, by different women, in a single one-year span. A 2006 New York magazine article on the family's legal battle over money said he had long kept a mistress hidden from his first wife, Chizuru -- and other girlfriends hidden from both of them.
Family Business
Hiroaki Aoki was born Oct. 9, 1938, in Tokyo. He and his three younger brothers grew up around their parents' restaurant and learned ``the importance of absolute cleanliness in the kitchen, using the freshest ingredients and the very best cooking tools money could buy,'' according to a company history on the restaurant chain's Web site.
Aoki earned a spot on the Japanese Olympic wrestling team and first traveled to the U.S. on an athletic scholarship. He adopted the name ``Rocky'' and sold ice cream in New York City by day while studying restaurant management at night, according to the company history. He was mugged three times and stabbed twice during his ice-cream-selling days, the history goes.
In 1964, he opened his first Benihana of Tokyo restaurant -- with four tables -- on West 56th Street. He opened a second restaurant just three blocks to the east, then one in Chicago. By 1972, he was running six branches.
Benihaha shares fell 25 cents today to $5.96 as of 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq stock market composite trading. It has dropped 53 percent so far this year.
10.7.08
8.7.08
I Sit and Wonder
..if this is album Of the Year? Cause THIS is certainly the best fucking song I have heard in ages...
The Verve - Love Is Noise
1.7.08
Recall
Hello friends, I am so incredibly behind, so I will get the fuck right into it for you…
Thursday night, Ash as BAYE played a set in Brooklyn that, despite the rough set up of the venue, kicked massive fucking ass. He played a solid set of old and recent stuff and even opened with a new song that I LOVED. I am not sure what it was called, but I have asked repeatedly for an mp3 of the song or the set itself and hopefully he will deliver on this shortly. This was the real deal. He had a really good set up in terms of gear and sound and this was probably one of the best things I have seen and hear him do of this kind. Thumbs to Ash, I hope he keeps doing that. Here check out this video, shot by Chewy Music with some of the moments from the awesome gig. Note Bob's head and the occasionaly glimpse of G:
Afterwards, G, B were briefly joined by Bob and Laura as we got the drinks thing going. There we met B’s high school friend who is a Dr, drinks and smokes like a champ and has chest hair like you can’t believe. It’s like silk. I asked him to expose it more. It was comforting to see. Uncomforting was the chick who kept telling us about her parents who were drug runners or something. She bored me into urination and I told her so. This was not helping the evening.
So with a few drinks in, G convinced me to go check out the Hooky DJ set at the Hiro Ballroom, which I hate and was THIS close to not going to. However, G can be charming (especially since we were already on the guest list) when he wants to be and there we were, on the L, en route to the Ballroom. I can’t recall when we got there, sometime in the 1 range, but there was Hooky, DJ’ing some sold shit. The place wasn’t really the crowded, which definitely made this an easier experience, because we were able to go right up to the front and watch the man in action, which of course doesn’t mean much, as G pointed out very quickly. So we downed the Japanese beer and listened to some cool shit like some Stone Roses remixes, and eventually I just decided to go up and talk to the man himself. No one was bothering him or onstage with him at that moment, so I thought why not.
This proved to be a really cool idea cause Hooky and I had a very enjoyable chat about Freebass, how my bass has been delayed because the same guy is making his new one, and our previous encounters which was making him feel old cause I was 19 the first time we met (this is the third time we have met, and he recalled the previous time, which either makes me cool or scary depending on how you read this). This chat was maybe 2 minutes tops, but when you meet your hero and he is nice, charming, makes an effort, throws an arm around you and make you feel comfortable, it’s a great moment. I left the stage and G said ‘that looked like a very enjoyable conversation”. It was. We stayed till the end of the set and then suffered through the next day slightly hungover. Why G takes a picture of Hooky with some Asian dude and not when im up there is beyond me:
But Friday saw G, B and I get together yet again. Mostly to fall asleep on my couch and then grab a slice of Pizza, but also to head over to the Blender Theatre to check out the long anticipated Peter Murphy gig. Man we lucked out here on several levels, even though the air conditioning sucks massively there. This was our first time at the venue, and luckily we had seats so our tired asses could sit. Second, they were filming this for a DVD, so we got a longer, special set that included all the PM solo hits, stuff from the new Bauhaus album which have never been played live before, cool older Bauhaus tracks (Burning from the Inside and She’s In Parties) as well as a cover of Joy Division’s TRANSMISSION. Why would he cover Joy Division? Oh because guess who was there, yes, Hooky, who was the aftershow DJ for the evening.
Now, I fail to mention that earlier that day, Hooky and I had a nice fan/idol message exchange on the Myspace. It was a perfect way to cap off the fun exchange the night before. Now, knowing he was at this venue made me feel like a stalker douche, especially since I was wearing one of my Factory Records T-shirts. So I told the guys there was no way we were going to the DJ set. However, upon hearing the Malcolm McLaren JD/Captain and Tineille mash up that I know Hooky starts every set with, I felt compelled to check it out. So we had one drink and listened for about 45 minutes before heading out. I hid out of site and snuck peeks. It was a very cool space in the basement of the Blender. Very tiny. Then I went home and passed out.
Work related shit kept me from going to B’s on Saturday, which I was pissed off about but I ended up with the legendary ZOE B, niece of Jessica, and all around CUTEST. We hung out with Jess, the baby, and the babie's awesome mom, Chelsea, all evening on Saturday and took them to a lovely dinner. Then I walked this big ball of cuteness around Brooklyn, observe:
.jpg)
What a cute, personable baby and her mother is everything a sister should be. I wish other sisters could learn from Chelsea's example, though I doubt they will. We had a great time and wanted to hang with them some more, but we had our family hit town.
I got some good nephew time in on Sunday. Don't tell his auntie, but he helped me beat GTA. He actually coached me through the final mission. Then we saw WALL-E which is EXCELLENT. It's basically a silent movie for the first half and it is genius. That movie deserves every dime it makes. Kudos to Pixar, it destroyed CARS, which I didn't love. Then we had noodles.
Last night, Irene's mom came to down for a day so we had a big family dinner. The rest of it was whatever though I did cuddle with the dog. Gonna go check out Mr. Eric Powell and the returning 16Volt tonight, which I am VERY excited for. As is the Kidd.
How are YOU?
F
Thursday night, Ash as BAYE played a set in Brooklyn that, despite the rough set up of the venue, kicked massive fucking ass. He played a solid set of old and recent stuff and even opened with a new song that I LOVED. I am not sure what it was called, but I have asked repeatedly for an mp3 of the song or the set itself and hopefully he will deliver on this shortly. This was the real deal. He had a really good set up in terms of gear and sound and this was probably one of the best things I have seen and hear him do of this kind. Thumbs to Ash, I hope he keeps doing that. Here check out this video, shot by Chewy Music with some of the moments from the awesome gig. Note Bob's head and the occasionaly glimpse of G:
Afterwards, G, B were briefly joined by Bob and Laura as we got the drinks thing going. There we met B’s high school friend who is a Dr, drinks and smokes like a champ and has chest hair like you can’t believe. It’s like silk. I asked him to expose it more. It was comforting to see. Uncomforting was the chick who kept telling us about her parents who were drug runners or something. She bored me into urination and I told her so. This was not helping the evening.
So with a few drinks in, G convinced me to go check out the Hooky DJ set at the Hiro Ballroom, which I hate and was THIS close to not going to. However, G can be charming (especially since we were already on the guest list) when he wants to be and there we were, on the L, en route to the Ballroom. I can’t recall when we got there, sometime in the 1 range, but there was Hooky, DJ’ing some sold shit. The place wasn’t really the crowded, which definitely made this an easier experience, because we were able to go right up to the front and watch the man in action, which of course doesn’t mean much, as G pointed out very quickly. So we downed the Japanese beer and listened to some cool shit like some Stone Roses remixes, and eventually I just decided to go up and talk to the man himself. No one was bothering him or onstage with him at that moment, so I thought why not.
This proved to be a really cool idea cause Hooky and I had a very enjoyable chat about Freebass, how my bass has been delayed because the same guy is making his new one, and our previous encounters which was making him feel old cause I was 19 the first time we met (this is the third time we have met, and he recalled the previous time, which either makes me cool or scary depending on how you read this). This chat was maybe 2 minutes tops, but when you meet your hero and he is nice, charming, makes an effort, throws an arm around you and make you feel comfortable, it’s a great moment. I left the stage and G said ‘that looked like a very enjoyable conversation”. It was. We stayed till the end of the set and then suffered through the next day slightly hungover. Why G takes a picture of Hooky with some Asian dude and not when im up there is beyond me:
But Friday saw G, B and I get together yet again. Mostly to fall asleep on my couch and then grab a slice of Pizza, but also to head over to the Blender Theatre to check out the long anticipated Peter Murphy gig. Man we lucked out here on several levels, even though the air conditioning sucks massively there. This was our first time at the venue, and luckily we had seats so our tired asses could sit. Second, they were filming this for a DVD, so we got a longer, special set that included all the PM solo hits, stuff from the new Bauhaus album which have never been played live before, cool older Bauhaus tracks (Burning from the Inside and She’s In Parties) as well as a cover of Joy Division’s TRANSMISSION. Why would he cover Joy Division? Oh because guess who was there, yes, Hooky, who was the aftershow DJ for the evening.
Now, I fail to mention that earlier that day, Hooky and I had a nice fan/idol message exchange on the Myspace. It was a perfect way to cap off the fun exchange the night before. Now, knowing he was at this venue made me feel like a stalker douche, especially since I was wearing one of my Factory Records T-shirts. So I told the guys there was no way we were going to the DJ set. However, upon hearing the Malcolm McLaren JD/Captain and Tineille mash up that I know Hooky starts every set with, I felt compelled to check it out. So we had one drink and listened for about 45 minutes before heading out. I hid out of site and snuck peeks. It was a very cool space in the basement of the Blender. Very tiny. Then I went home and passed out.
Work related shit kept me from going to B’s on Saturday, which I was pissed off about but I ended up with the legendary ZOE B, niece of Jessica, and all around CUTEST. We hung out with Jess, the baby, and the babie's awesome mom, Chelsea, all evening on Saturday and took them to a lovely dinner. Then I walked this big ball of cuteness around Brooklyn, observe:
.jpg)
What a cute, personable baby and her mother is everything a sister should be. I wish other sisters could learn from Chelsea's example, though I doubt they will. We had a great time and wanted to hang with them some more, but we had our family hit town.
I got some good nephew time in on Sunday. Don't tell his auntie, but he helped me beat GTA. He actually coached me through the final mission. Then we saw WALL-E which is EXCELLENT. It's basically a silent movie for the first half and it is genius. That movie deserves every dime it makes. Kudos to Pixar, it destroyed CARS, which I didn't love. Then we had noodles.
Last night, Irene's mom came to down for a day so we had a big family dinner. The rest of it was whatever though I did cuddle with the dog. Gonna go check out Mr. Eric Powell and the returning 16Volt tonight, which I am VERY excited for. As is the Kidd.
How are YOU?
F