:: C O L D B L U E S T A R S ::

:: Tuesday, October 05, 2004 ::

(POSTED BY MARK GRIFFIN)

This was the craziest weekend for me.

Friday was my birthday. Jen came home for lunch early, blindfolded me and drove me to my birthday present. One of my guesses was that she got me a new Bike. I’ve been riding around town on my old 1987 Schwinn and Jen and my Mom were afraid it was just going to fall apart. (It works fine though! I swear.) On the way to the present Jen said she had to check the directions and picked up a piece of paper. This confused me since I knew she knew where the bike shop was, so I asked her “Tell me the truth, do you really need directions?” “Yes.” She said. I was baffled. I had no idea what it was anymore. We pulled up to the secret spot and she took off my blindfold and in fact it was the Bike Shop! I was happy but said “Hey, you told me honestly that you needed directions!”, “I Lied!” She said…and the little part of me that always believed whatever she said, because Jen is not one to pull pranks or lie, died.

Saturday we left for NJ in the morning and got to Mom’s around 1. We left almost immediately to get to the train bound for NYC. We were going up to Washington Heights to see our friend Shannon from Jen’s school. We walked through a pretty crappy 10 blocks to get there but their apartment was amazing. 2 bedrooms, huge living room, huge kitchen. I don’t know how much they pay for rent, but they must be making a ton of cash. It’s the closest thing I will ever see to the ‘Friends’ apartment. We changed for Steve and Melissa’s wedding, I borrowed a belt from Shannon’s husband Jeff, because I am stupid, and took off for the subway…in the Rain.

On the way to the Subway, we saw a goose on the sidewalk. It was really big and all white with a big orange bill and was just walking around. For some reason someone put a plastic bag around its butt (I guess to catch the crap?). An Hour later we get to the Brewery that the wedding was at. We walk in and recognize No One. No Steve, No Melissa. No one we knew. We called Aaron and Beth…they were stuck in traffic at the Holland tunnel. So was Kristin. Kevin was too sick to come. We were on our own.

While wandering around I heard someone call out “Mark!” It was Megan Rathbun. I told her she was the first face I recognized and she pointed to the right and said “Look over there.” I saw Chuck Walski, Mark Grodski, Ron Creed, Paul Loughman and Dave Frank all talking (sorry about spelling their names wrong). With the exception of Dave Frank, they don’t really know me though. I knew who they were from high school but never really hung out with them. I didn’t think they even know my name so trying to go start up a conversation was going to be more awkward than standing there talking to no one.

The ceremony started. Annie Hayden was there and played a cool song called ‘I Love You’. I couldn’t hear any lyrics but the song sounded nice. Steve and Melissa exchanged vows that I could not hear either, and then they walked down the aisle for the first time as husband and wife…Just as Aaron and Beth walked in.

Apparently Aaron didn’t have black shoes so he used a sharpie to turn the shoes the he did have black. Beth is a lucky woman.We had a really great time. I’ve been looking forward to seeing my friends for a few weeks now. Phil couldn’t be there though because he drove to Virginia for another wedding. I got to talk to Dave Frank for a while. I’ve known him since Kindergarten. It seems like every few years we’ll bump into each other and catch up on crap. He’s living in NYC and doing a variety of arty endeavors. He’s in an experimental music group, acting, painting, and waiting tables. Danny is living in California and is getting married next week. Chuck Walski came over and was talking to me and Aaron for a while too. He seemed to recognize me actually and knew about the cancer and everything. He is an editor and told me to call him up if I needed help with my book. Eric Solomon was on someone’s cell phone and right before Aaron was going to give it to me to say Hi, Steve Ericson started playing a song on guitar for Melissa. I recognized it from when he played solo at The Charleston. I can’t remember what the significance was that made this song special between the 2 of them though.

The wedding was a pizza party and at the end of the night they were giving away entire pizzas. Almost everyone left with a pizza. There is no greater gift.

Sunday Jen and I met Julie Ann and Dennis at Panera for lunch…MMmm bread…and then I roped Aaron, Beth, Debra and Jen into going to Eisenhower field to play Frisbee. We went to Old Man Rafertee’s for dinner and then back to my Mom’s house for Cake for my birthday. They told me that Aaron, Beth, Debra and Phil all chipped in on my birthday present. I unwrapped it and it was a few CD’s Aaron burned for me (2 cool games and a 3D modeling program) and a CD that had the art for Fantastic Four 1-10 on it. I figured that the FF CD must have been really expensive if they all chipped in on it, but a little while after I opened it, Beth goes “Oh wait, didn’t we forget something in the car?” Aaron added “Oh…Yeah…I’ll Go Get…it.” Aaron, Beth, and Debra left and came back in with…An Acoustic Guitar! I had mentioned to Aaron a while ago I wanted to get one because playing bass by yourself is kind of…boring.

Beth thought of this idea too late, but she wanted to leave the price on the CD because it was only 5 bucks. Then it would seem like they each chipped in $1.25. Ah friends.

This was by far the best birthday…or weekend…in years though. Last year I had cancer, the year before that everyone threw me and Joel a surprise party but Bill had just died a day before so things were pretty weird.

So There.

Mark

:: AD 2:29 PM [+] ::
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Jeez, where to start.  It's been almost THREE full months since I've updated this thing.  I apologize for not keeping up to date on this.  I'll try to recap the last three months.

APRIL:  Last weekend in April, we (me, Beth, Mark, Debra, Shafik) went to Ag Field Day on Cook Campus.  It was fun.  Like going to Lollapalooza except that the bands aren't good and a bottle of water doesn't cost $6.00.  There were still hippies there though that stink of patouli and the requisite "awareness" booths but they are easily ignored and avoided.  Phil unfortunately had to work that day so Mark and I would take digital snapshots of the barely dressed girls sunbathing on the lawn by the pond.  We also ran into Melissa and Mcm with little Nathan in tow.  That kid is the cutest little goober I've ever seen.  Shafik kept caressing Nathan's pudgy forearm probably wondering how tender and sweet it would be.  I recognized that look in his eye from past group outings to Big Ed's Bar-B-Q.

MAY:  Beth made me get rid of the van.  After over 300,000 miles and countless repairs and body modifications, the van finally gave up the ghost.  It had been sitting in our driveway since the winter and finally Beth called a place that tows away old cars for free.  I took off the giant mirror that Phil and I stole from a trucking company parking lot and emptied the van of any loose change and junk that I wanted to keep.  As the van was towed away, it actually looked sad.  The headlights were pointed down like two pathetic electric eyes and the caved-in grill looked like a creepy frown.  God, I'm anthropomorphizing the automobiles now.

Shafik also got engaged.  Yep, you read right.  He started dating Phil's roommate, Megan, in late April and they got engaged two weeks later.  He would always ask me for advice about relationships and he told me a week into seeing her that he thought she was the "one" and asked me my opinion.  I told him that he should probably take it slow since they just met, he had only been out of the relationship with Jen for a few weeks by that point, and Megan was currently in the works of adopting her 16 year old nephew.  Her nephew, Craig, comes from a screwed family situation so Megan was in the process of becoming his legal guardian and he would move into the house.  Well, true to Shafik's nature, he did the exact opposite of what I told him and proposed to her on the same day we were moving Mark and Jen into their new house in Connecticut.  We were all stunned.  In the span of two weeks, Shafik met, dated, proposed, and pretty much inherited a 16 year old son.  Over the course of the next year, Shafik will probably also buy a house, get gray hair, have a heart attack, retire from his job, start wearing adult diapers, and die.  Oh, I'm kidding.  Except about the adult diapers part.

Mark and Jen moved into a really nice house in West Hartford, Connecticut.  It's really close to the clinic where Jen will be working and it's still a stone's throw away from New York City.  Mark, Phil, and I rode in the moving van and sat in horrendous traffic on the way to Jen's aunt's house to pick up more furniture.  It took us four and a half hours to get there.  When we got to their new house, Hannah had sprained her foot running down the stairs.  Mark took her to the veterinary hospital down the road while we moved their stuff in.  After moving them in, Dennis, Phil and I ran to the local Target and bought a basketball and shot around in their driveway.  We slept over that night and the next morning were awakened by a loud crash.  Phil had slept on the futon upstairs, rolled over and tipped the whole futon over sending his sleeping body crashing to the floor and the futon on top of him.  He wasn't happy.  We made breakfast the next morning with Phil making the cheese omelets and bacon.  I was shocked when Phil melted butter in the pan to fry up the bacon!  and he wonders why we're all so fat.

Beth and I also started the process of looking for a house.  Houses in this area are ridiculously expensive.  I looked at a list of the most expensive metro areas in the U.S. to live and "Hunterdon, Somerset, Middlesex counties" was number 10 on the list!  Number 11 was Los Angeles!!  It's cheaper to live in L.A. than in friggin' East Brunswick!!!  What the fuck?!  Number 13 was Seattle.  My hopes of finding something decent started to plummet.

JUNE:  Pretty much, this month was spent driving around neighborhoods and talking to our realtor and looking at houses.  No joke.  We absolutely had no fun this whole month.  Interest rates are at an all time low so we were looking hardcore for something before they started to rise again.  Seriously, interest rates are at the same level as they were right after World War II.  Anyway, the less said about June, the better.

JULY:  We found a house in Old Bridge.  It's a really nice Cape Cod style house with 3 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, eat in kitchen, living room, finished basement and an above ground pool.  I won't say how much it costs but I will say that I will be eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch and dinner for a long long time.  Sigh.  Did I mention it has an above ground pool?

In the meantime, check out the new multimedia page for new songs and videos that I made recently using Adobe Premiere.

:: AD 11:16 AM [+] ::
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I finally finished mixing some new CBS songs. Check out the sounds page. They are called "Lights Out" and "Every Secret Thing". I am not sure if I am completely happy with the mixes. Let me know if the vocals are too loud, distorted, or just plain stupid. This weekend, Beth and I drove down to Cape May and hung out for a bit then went to Atlantic City on SAturday. On Sunday, we went into NYC and walked around and saw City of God. It was amazing. Sorry this post is so short. I'm at work right now and I'm pretty busy today.
:: AD 12:35 PM [+] ::
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Sorry this is a belated blog, I've been feeling under the weather since Easter Sunday. Must've been all that ham. Anyway, me and Beth, Mark, Jen and Phil went to go see James and Alan play at the Clinic, which is a basement show run by a bunch of indie kids. Alan is the guy who books house shows down where he lives in Williamstown, NJ. He used to be in a band called I Dreamed of Pompeii. He had U.S. Rail play there a bunch of times. Well, he and James booked a solo tour around the Northeast at various clubs and basements. This was their first show of their tour. When we got there, I was actually pretty impressed with the turnout and the way the place was run. They had a PA set up and a back room where it was hooked up to a mixing board and a computer. Not bad! DIY is finally catching up to technology. We walked in right in the middle of some guy's acoustic set. He looked like Lou Barlow but dirtier. I liked his songs and his J. Mascis-esque lazy voice. Beth got one of his free CDs. Next up was Happy Krater from Canada which he informed us after every song. He was OK except his songs really straddled the line between introspective yearning to complete cheese. I almost felt obliged to buy a CD since he was here all the way from Canada but when I found out his CDs were $10.00, I politely declined. Alan subletted his allotted time to play to a bunch of his friends. This girl Kat played first. I thought her voice was good and I almost started enjoying myself but then she launched into an anti-war tirade and a leftist political rant that left me dumbfounded and feeling a bit embarrassed. I mean there's nothing wrong with being anti-war or being leftist but did she have to be so heavy-handed about it? Subtlety was definitely not one of her strengths. Then this duo came on called Bamboo Shoots and they went into a similar direction - it kinda seemed impromptu and it kinda reminded me of that Chili's baby back ribs commercial where that cheesy girl just sings atonally to the meandering jazz guitar progression playing. I dunno. Maybe it's just me. Alan came on and felt rushed. He blazed through a set really quickly. It actually slowed down when he asked one of his friends to tune his guitar. To kill time while it was being tuned, he launched into a poem/rap. When he got the guitar back and strummed it, it was still out of tune! Alan also freestyle rapped which was actually pretty fucking cool. James' set was pushed back so that this other guy could play. I don't remember his name but he was this very effeminate guy who spoke and sang so quietly that everyone had to move up and paractically sit at his feet. I couldn't really hear him too well because I was sitting right underneath the stairs and every 30 seconds, a crowd of people kept coming downstairs to see what was going on, get beer, or just talk. Mark and I sat there and just laughed at the way the guy was playing the guitar. In Beth's words, "he looked like he was having an orgasm as he played". The guy played what seemed like an hour set (maybe because his songs were so long and slow too) and afterwards James started setting up. I got in a good position to videotape him but it seemed like the show was over because people started milling about. I was wondering if James was going to play but then he just started playing as people were like even walking in front of him. During his first song, people quieted down and watched him. He really played well. I was enjoying the set while I videotaped it. During the last song, I followed James as he walked around the basement and serenaded dazed onlookers. It was really funny. Afterwards there was a band to follow but Mark and Jen wanted to leave so we went home. James and Alan were going to stick around and watch so I just told them to come by afterwards. On the way home, we stopped at Quick Chek and got deli meat and cheese and bread and went back to our house and cooked up some grilled cheese sandwiches. James came around later without Alan. Alan met up with some girl at the party and went back to her dorm with her! Incredible. We sat around comparing our chest hair and watching Jeff Goldblum prance around naked in "The Fly". I swear if I never see Jeff Goldblum's ass ever again, it will be too soon.

Saturday, we got up and went to Le Peep for breakfast. James had picked up Alan earlier that morning and we were all hungry around 1:00 PM. Butterscotch pancakes are my new drug of choice. After stuffing ourselves silly, we went back to the house. Alan and James went to Sam Ash. Beth and I headed to the supermarket to get groceries for Easter. When we regrouped at home, I took a short nap. Alan totally crashed on the futon. Beth, James, and I sat around and talked for a while before we left for the Charleston where they were playing the second show of the tour. We got to the Charleston around 9:00 and found that James was the only one on the bill. No one else was booked because of Easter and the bar was completely empty save for the staff. It was kind of disappointing in a way but it was really cool though. It was like we reserved the place but didn't have to pay anything. It ended up being me, Beth, James, Alan - and later on Phil, Debra, Shafik, Jen, and Jeff Partyka. We ordered a bunch of pizzas and hung out. Alan played a more relaxed set and played a bunch of unexpected covers. James played after him. He was smarmy and funny, cracked jokes, told stories, and played all these beautiful songs with absolute sincerity. It was probably the best set I've ever seen James play. I think the hardest thing to do is play by yourself because you have nothing to hide behind and all that is left is quality of your songs. While I was listening to James' closer "Do You Remember the Eclipse?", the sentiment of that song actually made me teary. When James ended his set, I was supposed to play but I was pretty wary. I couldn't really follow that. I wanted to play with a sheet over my head but A) I didn't have one on hand and B) Beth was really mad when I did it the first time. I didn't expect to play really so I winged it. I just played a bunch of songs off the top of my head and got off. Oh, and I did a cover of Superchunk cover of "100,000 Fireflies" by Magnetic Fields. Oh well. We didn't get home until after 2:00. James and Alan drove home that night since their next show wasn't until Tuesday.

Sunday, Beth and I made scalloped potatoes and a green bean casserole for dinner. My mother went insane with food. She made TWO hams AND a turkey for dinner. Gayle made homeade macaroni and cheese. It was so good. There was enough Velveeta in it to kill a whale. Rowena made stuffing and Melanie made biscuits and corn. I filled my plate with all the sides and found that I didn't have room for meat so I had to get a seperate plate just for the ham and turkey and gravy. We ate more food than I thought humanly possible and then we all sat around the living room reading books and getting fatter. We have to do away with at least one of the three major eating holidays - Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. I vote for Easter. Sorry Jesus.
:: AD 10:02 AM [+] ::
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This freaking "Spring Ahead" thing is still screwing me up. Damn farmers. Went to the Charleston last night with a big group - Beth, Debra, Shafik, Kevin, Kristin, and Phil - and saw Ghosts of Pasha and Truckee play. There were three other bands on the bill that were simply awful, I can't even describe what the music was like but it seemed that two of the bands had rap parts in the middle of songs in lieu of solos. The third band was a terrible rockabilly type thing that had a huge following of people. The club was packed. I couldn't take it so I went outside and hung out with Nick, Chris and Phil on the street smoking cigarettes. I saw the old man who runs the bar and he remembered me and we just talked and joked around. I am so glad to be on this guy's good side. We actually saw him kick some guy out for no reason. We had no idea what was happening but this guy was talking to one of the band members who had just finished their set and they were exchanging emails or something and the old guy started screaming at the guy and telling him to leave and he actually grabbed him and starting pushing him out. I really thought a fight was going to ensue so I was ready to weasel out of the vicinity but fortunately the guy just left really really pissed off. Anyway, Truckee was really tight and fun. Steve has the best acerbic humor. His distortion pedal had just stopped working during the show so Steve gave it a stern lecture and fired it from the band. Ghosts of Pasha came all the way down from Vermont to play. Chris got so incredibly drunk. I mean, he could barely stand up, I was wondering how this was going to affect the show. Well, the show started and right after their first song, Chris just got up, walked to the bathroom and just totally puked everywhere. It was so surreal. The band played on without him but after a while, I was wondering what happened to Chris so I went in and he was doubled over the sink, weakly splashing water on his face. The old guy went in there and went ballistic. I swear I thought he was going to tear Chris' head off. He was yelling "Don't puke in the sink! You'll clog my pipes!" and he grabbed Chris by the arm and tugged him towards the stall. Chris could barely balance himself and I thought he was going to fall and crack his head on the floor so I told the owner that I'd help him to the stall. Chris got on his knees in the stall and threw up some more in the toilet. Holy crap, I felt really bad for him. Meanwhile, the band was still playing their set. Chris was really upset and eventually he just said "I'm going home" so he left with his brothers and parents who had come to see the show. The band was still on stage when Chris walked out of the Charleston. I don't think they even realized he had left already. They finished like four songs and were like "Well, I don't think we can play any more without Chris." and ended their set. I told them that Chris left sick with his family. Everyone was pretty bummed out. From what I heard from the bathroom sounded pretty good though. Afterwards, everyone went to the Galapagos club a few blocks away and got completely smashed. We took off and didn't get home until 5:30 AM.

Beth and I got up around 12:30 and met Kristin, Kevin, Phil, and Shafik for breakfast (well brunch) at Le Peep. Nothing like a giant plate of butterscotch pancakes to cure headaches. Have to work tomorrow. Ugh.
:: AD 9:16 PM [+] ::
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I archived all of the 2003 posts into one easy to read chronological page. Click on the 2003 archive on the left to read. Now I just have to add some pictures and sound files and update the reviews and shows part and redesign the front page and we're all done. Crap.
:: AD 12:48 PM [+] ::
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Last night, Beth and I had dinner with Mark and Jen. They had just gotten back from Connecticut where Jen had an interview at a prenatal birth clinic. She was offered the job and it looks like she is probably going to accept. After her interview, Mark and Jen stopped at a realtor and looked at houses in the area. She has another interview in Elizabeth, NJ, next week so she hasn't accepted the CT offer yet but she's already talking about how great it would be. If Jen accepts their offer, they want her to start pretty much as soon as possible so they might even be moving by the end of April if they can find a house to buy up there. I'm very happy for them although I will be sad to see Mark and Jen move to CT. They'll only be two and a half hours away but still, they'll be two and a half hours away.

My mom and sister get back tomorrow from Ireland. I can't wait only because I really miss sleeping in my own bed. The futon here is really lumpy and I haven't gotten a good night's sleep in 8 days.

Shafik went on a blind date today with some girl he met on the internet. He was supposed to meet her at 5 PM but he called me at 4 PM and told me to call him at 5:30 PM in case the date isn't going well. If it's bad, he can say that it's a family emergency or something and just leave. I called him at 5:35 and he was having a splendid time. He was telling me on the phone "Thanks for calling but everything's going really well. I think she likes me." as I hear the girl laughing in the background. Jeez, how does he do it?
:: AD 3:25 PM [+] ::
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Went and picked up Shafik from the airport yesterday. A few weeks ago, he decided to go traveling around Europe on a lark and just bought a ticket, packed up his crap, and left. He got into Paris and met a girl named Emily at the airport from South Carolina. They hung out and walked around the city together. They really hit it off and she actually ended up spending the night in his hotel room. The next day, he left on a train for Amsterdam and Emily headed to Scotland to visit her friend. He got to Amsterdam and walked around the city for a while and ended up doing a tour for a diamond factory. While on the tour, he met two girls from New York City and they hit it off and hung out all day. They visited the red light district, perused sex shops, and smoked pot in the hash bars. The next day Shafik woke up hungover and feeling like crap. He then took a plane to Cairo where he was going to stay with some family. He met lots of cousins and saw a lot of neat sights. After staying with them for a week, he flew to Frankfurt and stayed there for two days enjoying the sights, talking to the locals, and sampling the vast varieties of wurst. He took the train back to Paris and met a girl named Autumn and her dad who were vacationing. They hung for three days and then he flew home. McMurray once said that Shafik has "the gift of gab". I totally believe it. He can talk and socialize. How the heck did he end up with such maladjusted friends like us??
:: AD 8:56 AM [+] ::
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This is so cool. James made a screen capture of me and Phil and Joel at the 2001 Superchunk show at the Bowery Ballroom jumping up and down like dorks. It's on the new Superchunk "Crowding Up Your Visual Field" DVD. See? All those years of getting to shows really really early and planting ourselves right in front of the stage finally pays off. We are now forever immortalized on DVD.


SUPERCHUMPS

My mom and my sister are in Ireland right now on vacation so Beth and I are spending the week here in Sayreville to look after my grandmother, feed the dog, and watch the house. It's like being on vacation for us too except that we're only 25 minutes from our house and we have work every day. Oh, and the commute is much longer. On second thought, it's nothing like being on vacation. Shit.
:: AD 5:27 PM [+] ::
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Check out the animated GIFs I made on the Pictures page.

Last night, we went into the city to see Steve Erickson's band, Truckee, play at the Acme Underground. They were pretty damn good and much tighter than the last time I saw them. Steve builds his own effects pedals and he had quite a plethora of gadgets and switches at his feet. It all combined into a beautiful psychedlic pop experience. Check out the Truckee website in the links section and listen to a tune or two (or three).

We also ran into Annie Hayden at the Acme. Annie used to be in a band called Spent who put out some really great records on Merge. Spent unfortunately broke up in 1998 but Annie still does solo stuff. She put a really great folk/rock album on Merge called "The Rub" and she went on tour with Superchunk during "Here's To Shutting Up". Here's some backstory in how I met Ann - Jen Negola and I went to Brownies in NYC to see Ray Davies play back in September 2000. We got there really early and the bar had just opened so we went and sat and had a drink. The opening band was doing a soundcheck. It was Annie Hayden but I didn't know who she was at the time. I just remember her being really familiar. At one point, I even leaned over to Jen and said "I think that's the girl from Spent". Anyway, we planted ourselves to the left of the stage on these weird bleacher things that had a good view. The band finished their soundcheck and went backstage. The club started to fill up pretty quickly and as I was sitting there waiting for the show to start - Ira and Georgia from Yo La Tengo sat right next to me!! I almost crapped my pants. I leaned to Jen and was like "Oh my God!! It's Yo La Tengo!!!" I was speechless. I felt I had to at least acknowledge who they were so I just turned to Georgia who was seated next to me and said "Ummm hi. I just wanted to say that I am a big fan of your band." She thanked me and there was a weird moment of silence so I searched for something else to say and I asked "So are you guys working on the next album?" Ira chimed in and said that they were on a break right now but they will probably start rehearsing soon and write new material. I nodded in agreement and then the awkward silence again. They asked where I was from and I said "New Brunswick". They nodded in agreement and I think we mutually felt it was a dead end so Georgia turned to Ira and I turned Jen and we started our own independent coversations.

The show began and I looked across the club and saw Steve Erickson and Melissa Phipps. I yelled "Steve Erickson!" and he looked around like "Who the hell is calling me?" and saw me across the way. Annie Hayden opened up and Melissa looked at me and pointed at her and then pointed at herself. I did not understand. Was she indicating that she and Annie were once an item? I kind of did a subtle point to indicate Ira and Georgia next to me and Steve and Melissa saw who it was and Steve gave me the thumbs up sign. After Annie's set, they made their way over and said "Hi". It turned out that Melissa and Ann were old friends. When Melissa moved here from L.A. years ago she started hanging out with these people near where she lived. It turns out that they were members of Spent. Melissa didn't even realize what a big deal they were until much later. I turned to Jen and was like "I knew she was in Spent!!" Then Annie came by to say "hi" to Melissa and Melissa introduced me and Jen to Ann. I was totally nervous and gushing because I really like Spent a lot. I'm so awful in social situations like that. Ann started talking to Ira and Georgia and Melissa had a camera with her so she took a picture of me with Ira and Georgia. I have it somewhere. I'll post it if I find it. Ray Davies came on next but I was pretty much in a daze the rest of the night.

I've run into Annie a few times since then at shows and we make small talk and bullshit and stuff. I hadn't seen in her in awhile so last night, I was shocked that she actually remembered who I was. Right now she works for Steinway as a professional piano tuner. There's a joke in there somewhere. She contributed a song to the last Merge compilation and has started laying down tracks for a new album. Last night she was like "I just found out that you play in bands and you have a tribute album!" I never told her only because I would feel stupid and embarrassed to bring it up. Also much to my chagrin, Beth had to mention that we were married. Oh well.

I want Cold Blue Stars to cover the Spent song "Landscaper".

Nick and Chris Partyka's new band, Ghosts of Pasha, and Truckee are going to be playing the Charleston on April 3. It should be a pretty cool show. I've heard some songs from Nick and they sound really good and Chris as usual blows me away with his guitar wizardry.

In the meantime, Beth and I are still trying to finish up the vocals for the U.S. Rail album. I'm so unhappy with some of the lyrics that I've started rewriting verses and melodies. What a pain in the ass.
:: AD 1:48 PM [+] ::
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It's been a long time. Sorry for the lack of updates. What can I say? I'm lazy.

Anyway, I'm going to start posting more regularly and hopefully try to get some new pictures, info, and maybe a new song or two up. I'm probably going to archive all of the 2003 posts and start anew with 2004. Check back soon for updates, whoever you are.
:: AD 7:23 AM [+] ::
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