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!)
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?
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.
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
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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!
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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.
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...
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.
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.
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.
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.
All files posted on this site are for educational, testing and entertainment purposes only.If you like what you hear, please buy recordings, t-shirts, dvds and other merch from these bands. This is a non profit site and is here to give some publicity to deserving bands and artists. If you’re in a band whose music is found on this site and you want songs removed, please let me know. Songs and other media will be up for only a short time. After that, just like our hopes and dreams, they're gone.
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