The Decline

Don't think (Stay)
Drink your wine (Home)
Watch the fire burn (Be)
His problems not mine (Safe)
Just be that model citizen

When giving in is so damn comforting

And so we go, on with our lives
We know the truth, but prefer lies
Lies are simple, simple is bliss
Why go against tradition when we can
Admit defeat, live in decline
Be the victim of our own design
The status quo, built on suspect
Why would anyone stick out their neck?

Fellow members
Club "We've Got Ours"
I'd like to introduce you to our host
He's got his, and I've got mine
Meet the decline

Toonage:

NOFX - The Decline (Live 3-3-2006 Worcester Mass)

Holiday Haiku's... not

To celebrate the end of the year, here are some Haiku's. I hope they make you feel very warm and fuzzy. Or something.

Next Stop Rehab

A lesson I've learned

No matter how much I drink

They keep making more

Too Dumb To Die, Too Old To Rock N Roll

I wear my punk shit

And pummel my bass guitar

Let's laugh at grampa

It Ain't Pretty

Look in the mirror

What the hell happened to me

Time to get wasted

Mop needed in room 219

The guns in my mouth

Last thought as I pull trigger

Who will clean the mess

A lesson from our elders

Hank Williams, James Dean

Had the good sense to die young

Mick Jagger? Not so much

And... have you downloaded the covers collection yet? It's right below this post.

Covers & Kovers

Hey cats and kittens, I put together a kickin' komp of kool kover versions of klassic krazy toons. All for you!

Featuring covers of songs by The Clash, The Byrds, Sam Cooke, Mc5, The Grateful Dead, Cheap Trick, Pink Floyd, NOFX, The Cure and lots more. AND NOTHING RELATED TO ANY DECEMBER HOLIDAYS!!!!!!!!!

You'll have to download the file to get the full 411 - but what's life without a little mystery?

DOWNLOAD ME!

You'll Shoot Your Eye Out

The Nomad's don't grok firearms. Nazz Junior wants an air gun for the holidays. I said "no". He asked why and I told him because he would shoot his eye out. Yep- really happened, just like the movie!




In other news... DON'T ASK DON'T TELL has been repealed!!!!! I support the right of anyone to volunteer to serve in the armed forces. Especially if it is not me! Gay soldier's can shoot just as straight as hetero's. Though I would prefer that there were no reasons to have an army in the first place!

Lastly, holy shit is Grinderman 2 awesome!

Frank Turner - Rock & Roll

When was the last time you really got knocked on your ass by a new album? Frank Turner's Rock & Roll did it for me.
Five folk-punk songs all about the joys and pains of our lifeblood.

Think Billy Bragg or Ted Leo. It's not busking, but Turner's voice is out in front of (mostly) acoustic guitar, piano and drums.

Turner leads his band in sparsely instrumentalized odes to what keeps many of us alive. In the call to arms opener "I Still Believe" - he sings "Who would've thought that something as simple as rock n roll would have saved us all".

Poignantly, "To Absent Friends" is reminicent of The Clash's "Jail Guitar Doors" and Stiff Little Fingers' "Wait And See". "Rock And Roll Romance" is a ballad about the only kind of romance you find- failed. A great companion piece to Loudon Wainwright III's "Motel Blues".

The other two songs "Pass It Along" and "The Next Round" are equally marvelous.

Fucking breathtaking.



Buy it here 
or here

F-f-f-f-f-f-f-rozen

I had to take a business trip last week, which included flying into Minnesota in sub zero weather on a small little "puddle-jumper" plane (while Otis Redding and Buddy Holly flashed through my mind) and then driving 150 miles in a snowstorm. At night. With no lights on the highway. And the snow flying right into our windshield, making the experience much like traveling into hyperspace.

The driving experience for several hours was very much like this:

as cars were crashed on the highway embankments.

The trip was up to Duluth Minnesota; original home of Bobby Dylan. I had plans to in Minneapolis and do The Replacements/Husker Du "heritage tour", but I was so freaked out by the time I got back to the Twin Cities that all I could do was sit at the bar at the hotel and down copious amounts of Leinenkugel beer. Mmmm beer.

Why anyone would choose to live in such a frigid climate is far beyond my understanding. Here in New York today, it's a balmy 20 degrees. Aaaaaahhhhhh.

Toonage:

The Choir - "It's Cold Outside"
Husker Du - "Ice Cold Ice"
Bob Dylan - "Shelter From The Storm" (bootleg version)
Replacements- "Bundle Up"

Nothing's Changed In 70 Years

"I'll be all around in the dark. I'll be ever'-where - wherever you can look. Wherever there's a fight so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever there's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there. I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad - I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry an' they know supper's ready. An' when the people are eatin' the stuff they raise, and livin' in the houses they build - I'll be there, too."

December 8, 1980

30 years ago today, John Lennon was senselessly murdered. Murdered. Murdered!

My stomach still churns when I think about it.

The previous generation had John F. Kennedy's assassination. We had John Lennon being murdered. Senseless. Disgusting. Appalling. Nauseating. How can something like that have happened?

Black To Comm

 

Here's your morning wake up call. Ugly, ugly people gonna drop the bomb!  
Play loud and watch the cattle die.

My Mambo In Law

My mom in law is awesome. Everyone should have one just like her. She's the kind of person who leaves money in our house for us to find and takes a train for an hour just to bring us soup when we're not feeling well. She's also Brazilian and a bit wacky (in a good way!). Anyway- she was looking to buy some mambo and meringe music and I said I would hook her up. She especially wanted some Tito Puente stuff so I took care of it and now I have been listening to Tito Puente all week! And loving it. So, I am offering up some Tito Puente here.

Enjoy it and mambo and samba yer arses off!!!!!!!! 
(Click here for Tito Puente: King Of Kings)

A Dish Best Served Cold

Nazz-A-Palooza went great. We didn't finish up until after 4 am and even got interviewed for Public Access TV. I think I described my band BACON THONG (which was the 2nd band playing that nite) as sounding like the music that the Hawaiins played whilst they sacrificed lepers to the volcano gods. Or something. With the headlining and mighty CATERWAUL OF SOUND, we proceeded to end with a 20 minute jam that involved jumping off moving office chairs, "Sunshine Of Your Love", "Whole Lotta Love", "Blitzkrieg Bop", "Black To Comm", "Louie Louie", "Interstellar Overdrive" and some meringue music. Or something. Somehow, I ended up playing lead guitar by the end of it. And that's not easy explainable when you start the song out playing bass. And people actually stuck around and loved it! Or at least they were too stunned to do anything but applaud.

Well, that's what happens when you meet up at 7 pm and are left to yer own (suspect) devices all nite! Both of our guitar players had passed out and had to be revived before we took the stage.

But, that's in the past. As is this... one year ago today, I was unceremoniously blindsided and shitcanned from my job of 14 years. Today, I log on, to find out that the remainders of the company are going to be immenently sold or liquidated. Gloating would be wrong, but let's just say I smirked a bit.

Sometimes the light is shining on me. Other times it's raining out.

Nazz-A-Palooza

Great googly moogly!!!! I am playing with 2 bands tonite in Noo Yawk City!!!!! On Broadway! With the mighty Caterwaul Of Sound (and yes, it's mixing time for the album) and Bacon Thong!!! Punk rock!

Aitch Bee Cee

You are your own demon. So sayeth my pal "C" about yerz truly. And she should know. Well, "C" is a true friend and the reality checks and back watching we have done for each other over most of this century have been both mutually beneficial and destructive.

And... since this is my blog, I wanna wish her a happy freaking birthday. As befits her coolness, her party was at some whacked out Bulgarian Bar that's owned or something by one of the guys from Gogol Bordello. It was a nite of crazy music WITH ALOT OF DANCING and an ice/vodka bar in which we had 2 minutes to drink all the vodka we could suck down. Since old Nazz is one quarter Gypsy, I fit right in.

So anyway, in honor of "C" here is some toonage that I know she'll dig. Or something.

The Clash - Tommy Gun (Live 1979 London Lyceum)
Joe Strummer and Johnny Cash - Redemption Song
Hot Water Music - Clampdown
The Strummers - Complete Control (Japanese band covering The Clash)
The Clash- YMCA (Live singalong on WBCN)

There's A Part That's Not Screwed On

Do those pills make you hallucinate that your wife is in front of you?




 Does this syringe make me look thin?


 

Don't Go Looking For It, It's Not There Anymore


 
 This Was All A Dream

Decisions, Decisions

 

So, it's been almost a year since I was backstabbed/dumped/shitcanned from the job that I had given part of my heart and soul to over the previous 14 years.

To commemorate the occasion, I am thinking of one of the following "tributes":

• mailing a dead rat to my ex-boss
• mailing something far more rank and fecal to my ex-boss
• signing my ex-boss up for every heinous mailing list available 
• summoning up some demon to destroy his family
• sending him an anniversary card with my "thoughts" on it
• just ignoring the bastard altogether and being secure in the fact that I got another job and that one day he will die.

On another note- I jammed with a couple of dudes I met on-line at a musician site- We played lots of Heartbreakers, Ramones, Clash, Dead Boys, Replacements etc. Big fun. However, the drummer does not think that Neil Peart is gawd and the guitar player doesn't like Jimmy Page. I didn't even know such creatures existed! At least we all agreed that John Entwhistle is/was the lord of the 4 string. We'll definitely need a lead singer. I am thinking of calling this band project "Treatment Bound".

This will be a supplement to my awe inspiring CATERWAUL OF SOUND band, of course. 

And, now for something completely different:

The Walking Dead

If you haven't been watching THE WALKING DEAD... you have been missing the best TV show of the year. Totally gory, totally violent and pretty faithful to the original source material. Below, you can see the first episode.




  

And speaking of soul-less maggot infested pus-filled walking automatons with no regard for anything but their own base needs, has anyone read this "true crime" book yet?

MO IS REALLY DOING SOME COOL SHIT!!!!

Our rhythm guitar player is the guy that really brings the sick tunes to the band. He's got real long black hair and a real long dark beard. And he really likes evil death metal, He can quote chapter and verse on Norweigen bLACK mETAL. WELL MO, IN AN ATTEMPT  GET CLEAN IN MIND AND SOUL AND BODY  TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH Relief ORGS & TO ULTIMATELY JOIN THE PEACE CORPS, i\s on a 2 week relief trip to the jungle and deserts of Africa. To be exact ... Uganda.

Our prediction is  that he going to come back completely changed. No more self pity, laziness, and boo fucking hoo.
He's over there getting the full treemeant. This guy came from a bedbug infested concrete bunker and is NoW the American Hero ID and helpIng hard hit pEople in Africa.

UNBELIEVABLE !!!!!!!   I AM SOOO PROUD OF HIM. I ENVY HIS EXPERIENCES WHILE ADMITTING THAT I AM FAR TOO CHICKENSHIT, LAZY AND SELFISH TO HAVE EVER DONE WHAT HE IS DOING.  AMAZING!!!
################################################
.This trip was a visit to a remote village called Seka, and by remote I mean an hour drive over haggard dirt roads to a place where a couple folks riding by would stare at us funny because apparently they've never seen a white person before. This was a women's outreach trip where the ladies organize the local women into a group and have a little salon...

READ THIS - IT'S AMAZING:
No this trip ain't all fun 'n games. Today we went to one of the local hospitals, and I don't mean Cedars-Sinai. This is the place where the poorest of the poor from the slums 'n ghettos go so you can imagine the conditions. And even as bad as it was, I'm told that it's still improved from a couple of years ago. The guy on the left is from the men's ward. He was having trouble keeping food down because of HIV and syphilis but didn't even have the means for a shot of penicillin

• • 
    
    

    … The next ward over was the "broken" ward with lots of broken bones, many most likely to be amputated, and a guy with his face pretty mangled with blood on his lip because some jerks beat the shit out of him. But none of that could prepare me for the maternity ward. I'm not gonna try to describe the sights 'n sounds because the video on the blog should handle that for me. But I will tell you that I've never experienced a more pungent stench of shit, piss and decay in my life. I mean this made a Burning Man outhouse smell like perfume. I'd never been more glad to have hand sanitizer (part of the job was touching the patients because they feel a visit from whitey was sent by God). And oh yeah on the way out we saw a long fresh trail of blood going from the sidewalk outside to a puddle near the benches. Someone said they saw a nurse shaking her head sadly because a kid was just brought in with his leg crushed by a car. You can imagine what they were going through being treated in this place. VIVA UGANDA!! I'm pretty sure this activity was the most grim on the trip and I promise to make the next update more uplifting. Today we're going way up in the mountains to a small village with views that are supposed to be outstanding so look forward to that tomorrow.

    

Bumpin' Uglies

It's my birfdae dis weekend. I'm gonna shave my head. And get drunk. And feel sorry for myself. That's my presents to myself.
My presents to YOU are below:

Here's some music from bands that you should research, fall in love with and support. They play both kinds of music: Punk & Rawk.

Action 45- California based mofo's who can actually play play their instruments. Sorta like Social Distortion meets Cock Sparrer. There's alot going on in the music... all of it good. Anthemic and tight. Sorta like the way you wished Green Day would sound. Best of all, lead singer Deuce X. Machina wears a hat better than anyone. Except for me.

Song: Action 45 - Bastards Of America

Action 45 Website

Kitty And The Kowalskis - Kitty has got more punk rock in her blood than pretty much anyone. She's been killing it in NYC for many years and is cool enough to have been a Ramone. Her voice always reminded me a bit of Debbie Harry, but her band has got a lot more balls than Blondie ever did.

Song: Kitty & The Kowalskis - Joey's Song (guess who it's about!!!)

Kitty And The Kowalskis Web Site

OFF! - I know, I've written about em before. Too bad- They're great. Total old skool punk rock (Decline 1 era)- Here, former Circle Jerk Keith Morris does a tribute to the legendary leader of The Gun Club.

Song: OFF! - Jeffrey Lee Pierce


OFF! Website

Yeti Girls - Poppy ala the fabulous Ramonesy brothers. I think they're German. Kind of fey vox, but the lyrics are nasty and the hooks are there. Plus, they get bonus points for a band name that must have come after many bong hits.

Song: Yeti Girls - Love Letter Girl

Yeti Girls Website

The Jam - Of course you know who The Jam are. This demo (just Paul Weller and guitar) of Thick As Thieves chokes me up. We all have friends who we disconnected with; much to our horror, disappointment and sadness. Right?

Song - The Jam - Thick As Thieves (demo)

The Jam Website


Semper fi, muthafuckas!!!!!

Tomorrow begins the end of America (I Fear)

Well kids, we had 2 years to fix the fuck-ups of Dubya. And despite great progress (national health, the end of old style lobbying, a President that actually CARES about people and not as much about corporations), our brilliantly impatient nation is about to shit through an entire gaggle of morons into office that will gum up the political works for the next two years.
Then, in 2012, The Repugnikkkans will be able to point to the political clusterfuck they created by voting down any proposed legislation and point to Obama as being ineffective.We finally get an intelligent and moral  man, bereft of scandals and willing to LISTEN to the needs of our people, and these baseless moral cripples wouldn't vote that water was wet if it was the Democratic stance.

Dear Tea Party: sorry that Obama was not able to weave straw into gold in 24 months, but guess what... things are getting better! Thanks in advance for fucking up the country again.

I PRAY THAT I AM WRONG. Please. Anyone reading this. Go vote. And vote wisely. Whatever your local issues... vote with an eye towards fixing them.

(I Was At This Show)

(I Was At This Show Too - Central Park - The Loose Joints remarks were directed at me and my friends!)

Download This!

 

All dem bloggers and foot stompers are making their special mixes for this weekend.

So, I made a special Halloween mix that may or may not be entirely relevant to the concept of All Hallows Eve. Life's a crapshoot, y'know? You can be assured that each of these carefully selected songs will be priceless additions to yer rekkid collection... or something.


Hey, you can trust your old pal Nazz, cancha?

And, I know you'll all be watching THIS on Sunday nite.. right?

CLICK ON ME (Or Me) AND DOWNLOAD MY HALLOWEEN (OR NOT) MIX!

CMJ is not just for college and hipster douchebags!

It can be for older, drunken douchebags too! Like me!
The annual CMJ fest in NY brings 100's of wet behind the ear little scumbuckets; who think My Chemical Romance is an oldies act and have only heard of Social Distortion from Hot Topic.
Into this maelstrom of ignorance and hipsetrism, your intrepid reporter ventured forth. No so much to see a billion bands that are weak and fey enuff to make Justin Bieber feel manly; but to sample the kinds of bands that I dig- YEAH, PUNK ROCK!

This past Saturday I said fukkit and went all out. Armed with a press pass (yeah, I be a member of the 4th estate), I went into the gaping maw of black clad nincompoops from the Tea Party states and took my chances.

My first stop was in Manhattan to see the mighty OFF!. Led by former Circle Jerk and Black Flag screamer Keith Morris and Redd Kross bass gawd Steven McDonald, OFF! was in town to show the little peckerheads how old skool punk rawk was really done. Supporting their new 4 song ep (4 songs 3:45 minutes!!!!!!), OFF! shredded the stage and kicked major ass.

OFF! Live CMJ

The OFF! thing was a pr event sponsored by vitaminwater and fader magazine. It took place in a huge space ugly with tons of college age squids. None of whom pretty much had a clue that Punk Rock wasn't invented by Green Day.

However, the venue had all the free spudweiser and vodka you could drink (and, ahem, I can drink alot of free swill). I ran into Steve McDonald before the show and innerviewed him (the McDonald interview can be found here and here) - sorry for the drunken slurring, but, I did mention the free beer and vodka, didn't I? )

OFF! were great- totally punk rock with an average length of one minute per song. Keith kept mentioning how no one there was old enuff to remember punk rock (he was right)- most of the people there were there for the "scene" and maybe the other really shitty synth twee pop crap bands and house music d-jays.

I could have hooked up with a 19 year old stripper chick who looked like Slash's sister and who kept rubbing up against me, but her very gay friend dragged her away after a few minutes-  he said he had seen Black Flag one year at lollaforlosers. I corrected him and said maybe it was the Rollins band, and then he said- "who's black flag, I meant anti-flag".

One nice part was the beer was free as I mentioned and the kiddies were weaklings, I kept sending various sucknuts to fetch me more suds as I sat in a leather comfy chair.

Afterwards, I ended up meeting with my drummer  j-lo and we headed over to Brooklyn (aka- Satan's armpit). This was to see Me First And The Gimme Gimme's- America's favorite cover band- punk versions of everything from "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" to "Desperado" to "Science Fiction Double Feature". The show was waaaaay sold out, but I was very drunk, and figured i could talk our way into the show. Which i did very easily. The bruthers at the door did not want to deal with a drunken Nazz and gave us entry.

Heckling Me First 

Once again, a venue packed with cmj assholes. The bands were all good- old guy punk rock - I was chatty and had some encounters with stupid little girls (one was wearing a Queen 1982 tour shirt- i asked her the story behind the shirt and she said she had picked it up at Hot Topic by her college in Virginia). Oh, also things got weird with me, jlo and some older chick with a louise brooks/betty page haircut- she went out to ganjy with us and she essentially was daring us to molest her in an alley way. No kidding. Her Danish boyfriend (who was very cool and had a Joe Strummer/Robert Gordon haircut that must have cost $1000 krona or whatever they use for money) was back inside (line of the nite- I asked him if he had trouble making decisions - Hamlet!!!! Get it??????)





Me First were great- lots of insults thrown back and forth from/to the audience. I heckled Fat Mike. Alot. I  kept calling him a hippie as i was standing 5 feet away from him. He was getting really really pissed.

Afterwards it was $2 taco's at the Mexican food truck.

  good times.

Of Dead Boys and Assholes

Conversation on Bleeker Street NYC: Oct 22, 2010:

N - So, you wanna smoke some weed?

C - I only smoke homegrown. I am disgusted by the Mexican Cartels killing people over weed.

N - Oh, so you only smoke free range weed?

C - You're an asshole
 --------------------------------------------------
And I almost got into big big trouble with Los Federales the other day. Suffice to say that one should always check their bags BEFORE going through airport security!
 --------------------------------------------------

On another less-assholian note; happy birthday to Stiv Bators, who would have been 61 (!!!!!!) today. I am currently reading Cheetah Chrome's autobiography and will have more on that at a later date.

Slowly I Turned, Step By Step

I went to Niagara Falls today. I was up in the Buffalo NY area and had some free time. Spozedly it's one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. It was very cool and I got totally drenched climbing a stairway that goes up from the shoreline and gets reeeeeeaaaaaallllll close to the Falls. As the middle of October in Northern NY gets waaaaay cold, I was a frozen shivering wet mess. Or something.

I wouldn't say it's something to plan a vacation around, but if yer in the vicinity, it's certainly something to check out.

 The buildings in the distance are in Canada. I tried to apply for political asylum, but they turned me down.

 The stairway that goes about 150 feet straight up. Smart people wore ponchos. I wore my Ramones denim jacket.

 A cool shot of the American Falls, the Canadian Falls (in the background) and the souls of hundreds of the dead, making their way towards the heavens.

Every few minutes, I yelled out "Niagara Falls, like in the old Abbott and Costello routine. You know... slowly I turned... step by step...

The Punk Floyd

Old Roger Waters (actually quite spunky), brought his "surrogate band" around to the local enormo-dome and let us fans knows where he really stands.

Reconfiguring The Wall from a self absorbed bitch session about isolation into an Agit-Prop paean to anti-war, Waters eradicated the rock star angst and showed that even millionaire rock stars can reinvent their most famous works into a far more cogent and compelling presentation.


Unlike the original self pitying premise of Old Pink, who blamed his problems on daddy croaking in the big one, women, teachers and success; Waters has turned The Wall into an outright attack on war, both past (WW2) and current versions. There are many visions of war and destruction (both personal and property) that are extremely disturbing. More than once I had to turn away. Waters is serving up harsh lessons along with the rock n roll.

Thus, "Mother" becomes a metaphor for the Government. "Run Like Hell" becomes an attack on polictics rather than a commentary on fascism in rock crowds; and the "Pig" becomes a vehicle for political sloganeering. Additionally, there were not so veiled attacks against mass merchandising (especially Apple), religion and big business. Punk Fucking Rock.




The actual show is mesmerizing and overwhelming. The Wall is built during the show; but with the various visuals and special effects, you hardly notice until all of a sudden, the band disappears. Luckily, we had seats directly opposite the stage, and were thus able to get the full head on presentation. Those with seats on the side lost the ability to view "through" the holes in The Wall due to the angles.

As far as The Wall being a Waters solo vehicle. It always was. Creatively, it was always his vision and Pink Floyd (especially Richard Wright) were session players in the original presentation. David Gilmour's presence is always missed, however, his role was filled by a singer who aped his vocals pretty well (if anonymously) and two guitar players.

There was a really neat part when they played "Mother" in which Waters dueted with himself (using video from 1980).



We ended up getting a pair of tix that listed for $300 for $100. And just got in as the show was starting. The only negative on the whole night was the $12 24 ounce can of LaBatts that I consumed. But that's rock n roll! Or something.

I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH HOW GREAT THIS SHOW WAS AND HOW YOU MUST SEE IT IF YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY! It was truly a landmark event that I will never forget.

Pussy

As in kittens. Not clams.
About a year ago, we adopted two cats. This was shortly after our beloved "Kitty" went to the Rainbow Bridge. The missus and the kids conspired and the next thing I knew, we had two garbage tearing maniacs in the house.

I am not a cat person. I grok far more to canines. However, there are some battles that just cannot be won. The all black one- Jibolet (aka Gibsy or Ribsey or Riblet or Asshole #1) spends his entire existence trying to get more food. The other one, a grey tabby named Roo (short for Rucifer and aka Asshole #2) is scared of his own shadow.

The feline occupation in the Nomad household helps to explain my alcoholism.

If you haven't already dismissed this posting with a "why the Hell is old Nazz doing the crazy cat lady thang", the answer is...
I don't know.

Maybe because it's yet another example of me being dominated by the other denizens of the residence. On the other hand, it's a fair trade-off I spoze to keep the family happy. Of course, it backfires sometimes. The other nite, I had been given a free ticket for the Slayer/Megadeth show at the local arena and I gave it away to spend "quality time" with the Nomads. Who then dispersed to all corners of the house to do their own thangs.

Which resulted in me sitting on my own, staring at the screen and drinking pumpkin beers all by myself when I could have been hammered and listening to mindless death metal with a bunch of troglodytes.

Like I said.
Pussy.

In The Flesh?

I am contemplating seeing the Roger Waters "The Wall" show as it is in my town in the next week. I have seen all varieties of Pink Floyd post 1980 and loved em all. As much as I am a Pink Floyd freak, and as much as a spectacle it will be, I am reluctant to part with the $$$ (nosebleeds start at $75 and times are tough). I missed seeing The Wall back in the last century, when the real Pink Floyd (Waters/Gilmour/Mason/Wright) toured it on it's initial run because I didn't have the $15 that the tickets cost. I regret that, and I will regret not seeing it this time around if I can't find a cheap ducat.

Times change, but they don't really, do they?



Embarking on a different course, I am posting up some songs that came on at random this morn. There should be enough diversity here that ya'll should download em all.

Have at em.

Toonage:

Thin Lizzy - Cowboy Song
The Dwarves - Lesbian Nun
Jerry Garcia - Waiting For A Miracle
Superchunk - Slack Motherfucker
Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels - I Got You (I Feel Good)

Vampyre Pulp Noir

Vampire Pulp Noir gets it's due in the "Joe Pitt Casebook" series by Charlie Huston. Comprised of five titles, the books tell the tale of Joe Pitt, a rogue Vampyre "living" in modern day Manhattan.

The tale behind the teeth: There's a virus that causes"Vampyrism". This virus necessitates victims to require at least a pint of blood a week, stay out of sunlight, etc. However, it's a very small demographic (about 4000 in Manhattan). Most victims die immediately (due to psychological or physical inabilities to deal with the virus). Vampyres are generally found in small regional "clans" and rarely are humans hunted. Generally, Vampyres will "tap" junkies or the homeless for a pint or two and leave them alive. It's an underground society, and there is a fear that should the non-infected discover them, genocide of all Vampyres would occur. Theirs very little supernatural cause to any of this, Huston does a good job of depicting the cause of Vampyrism as a disease with one of the characters providing exposition since she is a scientist., and it's not exactly glamorous.

Joe Pitt was infected at a Ramones show at CBGB's in the late 1977 or so. The books deal with his struggle to remain independent of the clans, and survive despite generally pissing off everyone around him. His own saviors want little to do with him, and he couldn't care less.

Complicating matters are his HIV positive girlfriend, the hippie social/anarchists downtown, the wealthy hoi polloi in midtown and the gangsta's uptown. And the other clans that are so weird that no one messes with them.The books are extremely violent and Huston stays firmly in the "pulp" field, with stereotypical dialogue for his characters and lots of blood and testosterone. Pitt isn't exactly the sharpest arrow in the quiver, and as you read the books, it's more than once where you wonder why he never takes the path of least resistance. Each time he is offered a helping hand, he spits in the face of his benefactor.

The books are a pretty quick and absorbing read, and the parallels to Raymond Chandler and Dashell Hammeit are obvious. Things continue to build up to what promises to be a very heinous finale in the fifth book, as some dark secrets are about to be disclosed.

I "drained" the first four with-in a weekend. Pitt is a great character, totally flawed but still sympathetic.

Highly recommended.

Worn From The Inside Out

I am so vegged out from the usual that I don't even have the capacity to think. Just starin' at the 'puter screen, giggling and slack-jawed.

Here are some perfect videos from my youth. You know where to find the original songs (most likely in yer rekkid collection).

I Am Justin Bieber's Spleen

Ra-di-a-tion. Yes, indeed. You hear the most outrageous lies about it. Half-baked goggle-box do-gooders telling everybody it's bad for you. Pernicious nonsense. Everybody could stand a hundred chest X-rays a year. They ought to have them, too. When they canceled the project it almost did me in. One day my mind was full to bursting. The next day - nothing. Swept away. But I'll show them. I had a lobotomy in the end.

 

Oh yeah, we are playing a gig in Hell's armpit (aka hipsterville- Williamsburg, Brooklyn Noo Yawk) at THE TRASH BAR this Saturday nite.

We are also going on at the ungawdly hour of 8 pm. The benefits???? We play during an open bar. Yeah, free drinks from 8-9. I have no idea how much it is to get in, but if you can't get your drink on enough to justify whatever the measly cover is, than who the fuck wants you there anyway!!!!!!

Also appearing is HIGH TEEN BOOGIE- three Japanese chicks who rock punker than the 5-6-7-8's are will put a pup tent in yer pants alot quicker than Shonen Knife (or the two tiny chicks from Mothra).

Free booze, total rock and roll chaos. Beats whackin' off to Justin Bieber. Or something.

The Most Interesting Man In The World

Ladies and germs, the most interesting person of our generation.

No one has ever run the insanity gauntlet and ended up (supposedly) in a saner state of mind than Iron Mike.

Would ANY of us had done better?

I remember the sense of invincibility that he had before the Buster Douglas fight and how he absolutely destroyed Michael Spinks and Larry Holmes. Hell, he took Spinks out with a body shot! A body shot I tells ya's!!!!!

I'm toastin' ya, Mike! I hope you find whatever it is yer lookin' for!

The Fleshtones: Pardon Us for Living but the Graveyard Is Full

Everyone has that great party band that was 

KINGS OF THE LOCAL SCENE.  

The Fleshtones was that band for us in NYC in the early to mid 80's. And, 30 plus years later, they're still rockin'.

Cool site for more free documentarys

Props to Stupefaction for referring this awesone documentary.

Download free Fleshtones trax here!

Lunatics Aren't Just On The Right

I've been involved in a flame war with some liberal loons as of late. It appears that they are convinced that the Bush administration was behind the 9-11 attacks. They cite various "evidence" such as WTC Building #7 collapsing, Bush's brother being involved in WTC security, etc.

Now, I am as anti Repugnikkkan as anyone, but, to think that the gang of fuck-ups that were running the country for (at that point) less than 9 months could have devised and executed anything as complex as the murders of that awful event is a bit delusional. This ain't the movies, and would the government be able to have kept it quiet? Come on now.

Sure, the USA has been complicit in starting wars before. The Spanish American War ("Remember The Maine" - blown up by pro US war factions), WW1 (The Lusitania carrying munitions) and Viet Nam (which was a tie!) were all shady. However, to think that elected officials would be insane and callous enough to have planned out 9-11 (including the Pentagon bombings) is sheer lunacy. Or something.

These left leaning folks make the Tea Party look sane.

PS- Man never walked on the moon! Click here for proof!

New Hope For The Wretched

So, I get a call from my old band mate Jimmy Pillows the other day. He has a gig booked for this Friday and wants to know if I'll play with him and his drummer buddy. Probably in front of an audience of five (including the bartender). Considering that I haven't played the old songs for a looooong time, never played with the drummer and we have one nite to rehearse, I say "sure".

I forget sometimes that the point of this whole rock n roll thing is to actually have fun and play. It's not about recording, audience size or any of that other bullshit. It's a lesson that was reinforced when I hooked up with these guys last nite. Jimmy and Chris are older than me, and gave me the gospel on "hey it's great to be alive and having fun doing this". They were right. We had a blast, running thru old toonage as well as some chestnuts to play like "Chinese Rocks", "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and "I Just Wanna Have Something To Do". 2 hours later, we had the set down cold.

We also named the band BACON THONG. Hey... everybody likes bacon! It was either that or "Shooting Joan Burroughs". It's a one off, not anything permanent (especially as I still have the mighty CATERWAUL OF SOUND - still recording the elpee). But these guys live near me and to hook up every now and then will be fun. Rehearsing with Caterwaul tomorrow for three hours and then a quick gig with Bacon Thong.

After all, that's what it is all about!

So I wake up today and get an email that the show tomorrow was canceled.

That's rock n roll!

I'm One

Every year is the same
And I feel it again,
I'm a loser - no chance to win.
Leaves start falling,
Come down is calling,
Loneliness starts sinking in.

But I'm one.
I am one.
And I can see
That this is me,
And I will be,
You'll all see
I'm the one.

Where do you get
Those blue blue jeans
Faded patched secret so tight.
Where do you get
That walk oh so lean
Your shoes and your shirts
All just right.

 

But I'm One 

I am one.
And I can see
That this is me,
And I will be,
You'll all see
I'm the one.

I got a Gibson
Without a case
But I can't get that even tanned look on my face.
Ill fitting clothes
I blend in the crowd,
Fingers so clumsy
Voice too loud.

But I'm one.