THREE SIX

Yes, it's the time of year again. Your hero turned 36 the same way he turned 26: in front of a computer listening to some asshole play guitar for what will be the most amazing album of all time. It's a good way to start another year in a wonderful life. When I was 26, I recall wondering if I would be doing this at 36. What happens at 46? Oh boy...

The day had several highlights, one of which you see above. The other of which was the constant presence of my nephew on the Ichat, so I think we chatted on and off for like 8 hours. That was a treat and he's actually a fucking riot on IM. No surprise there.

One of the funniest things about this birthday is the amount of random birthday greetings I would get thanks to the magic of the Facebook. It's literally like every person I have ever met who is on FB sent a message, yet people I have known for 14 years still forget, even when I am speaking to them on the phone. Point being, Facebook makes you feel great on your birthday ;-)

Then, Irene took me to the NIN gig, which was fucking shit hot blowaway awesome. It's been a good 4-5 years since I've seen them, and even more so since I saw them in an arena. I was kind of excited for this gig cause I am feeling the new album big time. We bus'd it out to the Meadowlands which now looks like a stupid college football arena called the Izod Center and we had quality as fuck seats. This isn't a gig as much as it's a performance that you need to sit back and enjoy. At least at age 36 cause my ass aint going in the pit. Anyhow, TR's easily got the best line up I have ever seen and it would take way too long for me to get into what was great about the show, so I'll let Irene's pix do the talking. SO glad I saw this. It's nice to see TR come full circle and not just be relevant, but once again ahead of the game. Where's your ice cream? At the fucking Meadowlands, man. Awesome.









Anyhow, I've been around, just too busy to write. I spent the bulk of last week in LA, which actually felt great. I have the travel bug, kids. If I don't travel for an extended period of time, even if its a few hour road trip, Uncle F gets cranky. LA treated me well. Saw the usual suspects, old friends, Mom Bradish, Vik and my GIRL BABY EMMY. See here:



Then me, your hero, being fucking AWESOME, carried In and Out Burger across the United States of America just for his beloved. Also, there was kind of a mandate of "don't come home without a double double. Thus I obliged:



As I write, it's actually the 36th anniversary of all things Gutterball Vinnie, whose looks only are enhanced with each passing year. How does he do it?

See you soon.

F

Reason # 1002 Why The Aggression Will Never Get Back Together

Mike "Ash" Venezia: keyboards, programming, guitars. INDUSTRIAL.

Out In the Moonlight...

In our continuing series of "Out In The Moonlight" we find the interesting and attractive yet odd couple of Matt Gentile Club Superstar Last of the Famous International Playboys and the Kidd out on the town in Manhattan last night.

VERY glad I was in LA. And still am.

Go Forth

I know. Stop. I don't want to hear your shit. Just look at this cute baby:



That's Irene's brand new little cousin. Adorable. Can't wait to meet her!

I write you whilst listening to a new Oasis song called FALLING DOWN. I quite love it. It's something new and cool from them. No, this isn't the remix that's floating, this is the actual fucking song. Don't ask me how I got it. I'm not even sure. It's a fine tune. Noel rocks it well on this one. I have a really good feeling about this album, which I think is out in October. The real single premieres on BBC on Friday, so let's see if they're on a roll...

On a roll are The Verve. I finally got the album, and it's damn good. Thumbs up. Not quite album of the year, but a fine worthy comeback. Actually, Dickie might be the least exciting thing on it. The band is great. And honestly, Love is Noise owns the festivals this summer and for good reason, it's a genuine classic. The perfect summer single and a fine addition to the Verve legacy. G is coming over tonight and we, like men, will have our own listening party now that I have found a good quality version of the album. I would call this the best all around comeback ever, maybe...Danny, the coldhearted jaded soul, hates this photo so of course i must post it:



These things, today are distracting me from the album I am MOST excited about, Hypefactor's new one. We are down to the wire. A slight light at the end of the excruciatingly long tunnel. Last night we locked a tune, and mapped a gameplan to finish the rest of the music for the album. There's a lot of enthusiasm. It's mostly all about guitars and vocals now. Leo, if you're reading. hurry up mate. thanks.

Benn mostly working or at B's or stealing time with Irene when our schedules allow us to actually hang out. Lotta good gigs coming up. Hopefully I'll be able to make them. I'm off to LA for the first time in ages next week, I'm excited to see the West Coasters, eat some Korean food, etc.

It was the young master's 10th birthday and while he is usually with us here in NY for most of August, a scheduling snafu (read: his mother fucked up), this time we were only able to grab an afternoon with him. But in that afternoon, we were able to spoil him with tons of cool ass Clone Wars stuff, get the 4th annual Han trip in, and present him with his big gift. Check it out:



Sweet, right? I told him if he sticks to it and really learns, B and I would record him. I would love to think this isn't a phase. Little punk got a macbook too, so maybe I can get him to remix. Who knows ;-)

Alright, man. Back to the Verve. I just filled my gut with noodles with G. I gotta go read some comics. Can you tell me what BATMAN RIP is about? Thanks!

F

ZOE

Ash, get the Ensure...