i heart t. rex

last night i watched the T. Rex movie called 'Born to Boogie'
which was directed (and produced) by Ringo Starr. it was filmed in 1972 with Tony Visconti producing and mixing the all the music. Marc Bolan's son, (everybody groan)
Rolan Bolan (it WAS the 70's!) presented the the documentary (rockumentary?!) part of it. well, the concert, which took place at Wembley Stadium, was sold out - 20,000 seats - was SO good. Mickey Finn on bongos (man, he was extraordinarily handsome!) Steve Currie on bass, and Bill Legend on drums. i've always loved their sound, but i had forgotten how good a band they actually were. great rhythm section. and Marc's stage presence was electric. definitely born to be a rock star, that one. and marc sang one of my favorite songs - 'Spaceball Ricochet' - using only his acoustic guitar.
best few hours i've spent in awhile...

mickey finn (on the left)

some old photos

the first picture is of me and steve when he was about 6 months old. never too early to learn about motorcycles. i'd forgotten how big he was - 10 lbs when he was born!

the second one is me and melissa on a trip to Harriman State Park. she was around 2 and a half here. i think that my mother was actually with us as well. hmm.
and yes, that is me with bottle blonde hair. mal used to tell me that he loved the color but was confused as to why i would dye my roots brown! HI-larious as always.

11:46 pm and it's STILL 86 damn degrees

fuck a dry heat

*please read disclaimer*

this is going to be a personal post, so if they tend to make you squeamish, stop reading right...NOW

i got a phone call from an old friend early this morning telling me that our mutual friend, brendan, had (another) 'psychotic break' last night, and ended up in Bellevue. not unlike last time (when we were on the street and he started seeing killer spiders) he was hallucinating again. he was alone when it happened and that got him beaten up as well as put away for a 72 hour involuntary committment. eduardo wanted to know if i would come to see brendan, but i said no. i tried to explain to him that i had set some boundaries with brendan that i had to maintain. this has been going on for years now, and i can't let his situation drag me down to those ugly places again. i made it clear that he couldn't be a part of my life if he continued to choose drugs and booze and lying and stealing over friendship and honesty. he said some not so nice things that day that i tried to put into perspective - you know, take it from the source - stuff like that, but it's awfully difficult to do when you have given so much and been treated badly in return. not once or twice either - dozens of times at this point. i then got a call from the attending - brendan gave MY number as his next of kin contact - and HE asked whether or not i would come. by this time it was 5:30AM and i had to be at work at 7. i explained to the doc that we were not, in fact, family, and i went through my (by now) hollow-sounding 'boundaries' spiel again. he seemed to understand, and after reassuring me that brendan was in relatively no physical danger, and after giving him my cell # in case things changed, i hung up. not for nothing, but with this whole insomnia thing - i tend to fall asleep around 4 or 5AM, so you guessed it - no sleep for your girl at all.
plus the dog is driving me crazy in all her puppiness (yes, dammit, that's a word!)
it seems i have no space for myself either in, or out, of my head - which is pounding like a small army of ice-pick wielding maniacs are trying to break out of it and take over the world. i don't even know what i'm saying anymore. the dog's in her crate and i have barricaded myself in my office to purge all of these thoughts and feelings before they make my head explode. perhaps that was a tad dramatic. if anyone is still reading this - i apologise.
there's tomorrow - another evil work day, and thursday, but i have off on friday. something to look forward to, i guess. whelp, i'm bone-weary and typed out so

goodnight, everybody

1 year memorial for Indian Larry

2nd Annual Indian Larry Grease Monkey Block Party
Saturday, September 10th
151 North 14th st
Brooklyn, N.Y.

just when you think time couldn't possibly move any slower,
a year goes by and sort of just slaps you in the face. hard.


i'm hot and sticky. my vacation can not come soon enough.

oh, and good luck to the louderARTS team who are on the way
to Albuquerque for the NPS 2005

random articles of interest

McDonald's looking to update their uniforms - those interested in the make-over include Russell Simmons, P Diddy, and Tommy Hilfiger. go figure.

Grant Morrison's new comic book series Manhattan Guardian, uses (in some cases) historic architectural plans never constructed. including a hotel that Antonio Gaudi designed a hundred years ago AND a building designed by the Austrian architect Hans Hollein whose facade resembled the grill of a Rolls Royce. he proposed it be built for the new headquarters for Chase Manhattan Bank in the 1950's. Mr. Morrison created
'The Manhattan Guardian', a tabloid that employs Jake Jordan, a veteran of the New York Police Department, to protect New York from nefarious characters.

a great interview with Jim Jarmusch. he's got a new movie out called 'Broken Flowers' starring Bill Murray. it took the Grand Prix award (the runner-up, for which Jarmusch was very much relieved) at Canne. it looks to be his most universally accessible film to date. looking forward to it.

alone at last!

i will be blissfully, ecstatically, splendidly and undeniably
ALONE this weekend - except for the dog, of course
no continuous parade of 20 somethings saying 'hey mom'
i am not EVERYbody's damn mother!
steven and the horde are going to maine until tuesday.
WOO freakin' HOO!

and the clock starts... NOW!!

a free few moments

not much to say - petra is coming along quite nicely, although my free time (ha) is severely restricted since she doesn't really know how to maintain on her own yet. she needs someone to play with and i can honestly say i'm EXHAUSTED.

i do need to mention last night at bar 13, though. first off, tony brown was simply amazing to listen to. quite a presence - i enjoyed him immensely. now to this thing that needs mentioning. the 1st annual (will they dare repeat it?!) sock puppet slam. yes, you heard correctly. sock. puppet. slam. marty (and betty!) took home first place and proved to one and all that not only is she a good poet, but she also has a grand sense of humor. but rich, reading a piece that roger wrote, was seriously hysterical. my cheeks STILL hurt from laughing so damn hard. oh, and the AC - meat locker cold! yay for that.

i'm out - petra wants to play...

been busy with my new

got her saturday. her name's Petra (greek-it means rock)
a rescue of sorts, she's a sweetheart, although at 8 months she's got a long way to go in the smarts department. her head is HUGE! melissa and mike brought over their pit - dart - and they had a grand old time together. the training may just wear me the hell out though... i'm tired!

steven & melissa (lake george, june 2005)

i've added this picture of my children - well, not so much CHILDren, but you know what i mean - you can look at all my pictures by clicking on the flickr thingie on the right under the archives section (or any of the pictures underneath it for that matter)
or not - whatever...

oh, also, i keep having the biker build-off dream (and i keep winning!) so i'm thinking that maybe i should look up some old friends and get something started...!

no news is...(much) better

P Diddy (un)written memoir law suit settled Sean P Puffy Daddy Combs (whatever he wants to call himself) settled a suit that Random House brought against him for keeping a $300,000 advance for a memoir he never got around to writing. terms were not disclosed, but since there will be no forthcoming book, i'm guessing he gave back the bucks...

CNOOC-ered - Bush security adviser helped firm land lobbying gig for Chinese oil company what a tangled web we weave - well, mostly those that practice shady dealings and think they're immune to detection. the whole bush administration seems to be falling apart from the inside out - hopefully the (wrong) half of the american population will finally wake the fuck up from their rip van winkle like slumber and get a grip on reality 2005.

when i'm 64... i'll give up my (day & night) job as a prostitute in berlin and retire...

White House silence on Rove broken as Bush continues to express confidence in Rove and i quote 'despite his involvement in a scandal over the leak of the identity of a CIA operative.' man, if this shit happened in my job (or anyone else's for christ's sake) i'd have been long gone. what will it take already??!

ok, too angry to continue right now
arrrrrggghhhh

one good dream...

i dreamt i not only participated in, but WON, the Biker Build-Off championship!
with a rootbeer colored sportster from the early seventies (the best years,IMO)
i was welding and painting and fabricating my ass off! paul cox made me a beautiful
leather seat and i used the kicker pedal from my friend steve's bike that i took
from it before it was put away for good. how could i NOT win!?

it was the first good dream i've had in i don't know how long.
and aside from the painting, i could maybe do it!

later.



oh, and tonight at 13, i heard a fantastic poet by the name of ragan fox.
he killed it!

here and there

it's the last day of june and i'm looking forward to a 3 day weekend. i'm debating whether or not i should bother with the fireworks this year.
my neighbor's dog has a brain tumor and i keep getting these headaches...probably unrelated, but the hypochondriac in me is concerned.
if i hear pink floyd on the radio again i'm going to lose my mind!
a little back story - everytime i turn on the radio (for the last 4 months) a floyd song is playing. i don't like them. i guess (and i'm dating myself here, but so what) it's because i've heard the same songs for 25 mother-effin' years! yeah, you can try & do the math but your head may explode. i know mine would. anyway, i even went so far as to BUY dark side of the moon just to see if it would stop. nope. maybe THAT'S what's causing all my headaches. hmmm... anyhow, enjoy yourselves over the weekend and remember to bar-b-que something. here's some stuff i found noodling around:

the latest edition to the National Museum of the American Indian is not a ceremonial mask or even a kachina doll, but Felipe Rose’s gold record from 1978 – Y.M.C.A.
by yes, the village people. Rose, the son of a member of the Lakota-Sioux tribe,
was, of course, the Indian in the group. He donated the award to the museum on his 51st birthday.


have you heard about this scam? apparently a gazillion people showed up at an apartment that they thought they’d sublet only to find out that someone already sublet the place! 18 people actually, and they all gave “Rita”, the subletting scammer, over $2,800. EACH. damn.


check the schedule – i bet you’ll find someone you’d like to hear... i’d like to see Vienna Teng – she’s got a killer voice – and Stefon Harris & Blackout he plays the vibraphone like nobody’s business... all at Madison Square Park – free and outside – rain or shine.


KKK tries a recruitment drive in...Massachusetts?! some local residents of Somerset and Dighton woke up to find slipped into their morning paper a flyer proclaiming: “Good News! The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan is organizing in Massachusetts!”


if you live in (or near) Marietta, Georgia, you should check the Marietta/Cobb Art Museum for a terrific exhibition called Wind Blown: American Motorcycle Fine Art. it features Billy Lane (my favorite builder) and the late Indian Larry’s bike in addition to paintings and photos of all kinds. wish i could go, but Georgia? too damn far.

this had me almost choking on my raspberry snapple
gangsta gadgets they're called and you've gotta see 'em to believe...!
check out the 'Ba-Donka-Donk Mouse'

a rock and a hard place

you were coming to see me
riding west, with the sun
in your eyes
most likely smiling, unmindful
of the bugs flying into your mouth at 75mph
(you never liked those full-faced helmets, did you?)
i waited, but you didn’t show
disappointed, i went to bed
when the phone woke me at quarter to 2
johnny was saying something about
an accident
but all i could hear was a loud buzzing
in my ear, so i slammed the phone down
and made myself small under the comforter
the doorbell rang sometime later – i don’t remember when –
time became elastic
and i ran and hid in the closet, knees to chest, trembling
a key turned in the front door
and i burst out of my hiding place
but it was only johnny, saying it wasn’t a dream
later, i had to force myself to say
‘it’s him’
and sign the necessary papers
in triplicate
(no,
no,
NO)
back home,
(is where my heart was)
they drugged me to sleep like a good little sheep
and this is what i saw –

me running, running
it getting closer
looking over my shoulder
it reaches a hand out to grab me,
but luckily it falls off
hitting the sidewalk with a dull meaty thwap –
it’s hot, fetid breath on my neck
i run faster, but i’m winded
(so much for going to the gym 2x a week)
i risk another quick peek
and just then one of it’s eyes pops out
and hits me
right in the back of the head
i’ve stopped now, too busy wheezing to care
and just as i become resigned to my fate,
the melting monstrosity morphs
into the Archangel Gabriel
and beckons me onward, into a cave.
it’s dark at first, but an impeccable light
radiates outward from the Angel -
and that’s when i first notice writing on the rocky walls;
at first i thought it was an ancient story
but after a moment, i realized
it was MY story –
my parents - toasting, fighting, ugly
my children - walking, talking, beautiful
i turn towards Gabriel, but he’s no longer there
you are standing in his place
i thought i would faint, but you reached me first
and said
‘i was on my way to give you this’
then you held me for a long while, shoulders shaking
as you said goodbye

when i woke up there were tears sliding down my back
as well as running down my face
and i was clutching a sparkly, purple painted rock


not a good week - dreams (all bad) and no sleep
i can't even pull the covers over my head and pretend
that i'm invisible anymore...

oh, also some news

starting off with a very convenient reason for me never to get another cat - my son wants one pretty badly and i DO NOT. there's this bit of information making its way around BBC online. seems that a certain parasite that domestic cats carry, and can can transmit to their owners, toxoplasma gondii, can alter one's personality over time. read the whole article here

Purple Haze, Acapulco Gold and Rasta. yep we know what these are, but i bet you didn't know that they're also candy lolliops that are on the market right now. its detractors call it "dope candy" because it's made with hemp oil, and they're trying to get this legal product off the market.

my take on Batman Begins

with my expectations on the non-existent side, i went and saw Batman Begins.
let me just say first off that i’m a huuuge batman fan – of the comics, anyway.
the preceding movies, while vaguely entertaining, did nothing to satisfy my desire
for a true to (written) character batman. dark, brooding, emotionally conflicted –
all of those things, yes, but without being campy or over the top about it. written like he is in Dark Knight, or Year One. so i’ve always been disappointed with the efforts of the ones that came before. even tim burton’s version. so when i heard about this one, i was admittedly, skeptical. and then i found out that one of my LEAST favorite actors, Christian Bale, was to play the lead – i was undeniably under whelmed. Michael Caine, Liam Neeson – both good - Katie Holmes i didn’t even know until Tom Cruise jumped off of Oprah’s couch declaring his love for her and it made the news – (having never seen one complete oprah hour) christopher nolan sounded OK to me – i liked both Memento and Insomnia, so alright there.

the theater was packed, the energy was good and then the curtain opened.
from the get go i was impressed – with the cinematography, the mood, and yes, even Christian Bale. and as rich said, he was born to play Batman.
the first hour was just great cinema. after bruce became batman i had a few issues.
the biggest of course were the unnecessary romance scenes. i hate that directors, producers and screenwriters feel it necessary to add these scenes to insure female
movie attendance. most of the females i know would prefer them to be if not completely, than most significantly, eliminated. Gotham was gorgeous in both its
heyday and its decrepitude. very creepy. oh, and speaking of creepy –
the Scarecrow. need i say more?!


there were a couple of scenes i didn’t understand. the chase that led batman to the roof of the parking garage for instance. why? if the batmobile was so agile and quick, why couldn’t he ever lose those pesky (un-supercharged) cops?? and why did katie holmes, AFTER getting the antidote see the scarecrow on horseback? and the appearance and re-appearance of that same little boy made me wonder if the powers that be weren’t thinking of a potential Robin...


well, enough from me - just go see it, because it was ever so worth it.

formula 1 fiasco

i never thought i'd say this, but i'm SO glad i didn't go to Indianapolis for the Grand Prix.
here's the thing - turns out that the drivers using Michelin tires didn't race. WHAT?!
yep, that's what i said. the president of Michelin declared the final turn (without a proposed chicane) unsafe to take on those tires after the high speed accident that ralph schumacher had on friday. all weekend long (unbeknownst to the multitude of fans) the teams were arguing with Michelin and Tony George (he owns the track) about putting up a chicane to slow down the drivers coming into that particular turn. no deal was struck and the teams on Michelins (all but 3 teams!!) drove the parade lap and then pulled into the garages. the fans were freaking out - they spent a bazillion dollars on 3 day ticket packages - not to mention plane, train, and automobile fares and accomodations as well. to see 6 cars race!! schumacher (the hated) took the win (?) while fans booed him over the finish line - even those who LIKE him apparently. i saw plenty of booing fans wearing ferrari/schumacher t-shirts.
i'm unsure of the ultimate fall-out, but you can be sure there will be some. maybe even the venue's cancellation...

20 years? but I'M only 20 (or so)

today is my son's 20th birthday
toDAY is my son's 20th birthday
today is my SON'S 20th birthday
today is my son's 20th birthday

jesus.
it's a good thing i started early, i guess, or i'd be mad old by now.

on the lighter side...

customs officials thought something was fishy when they heard flapping coming from underneath a woman's skirt. said one official "You don't see these kinds of alleged concealments every day." 51 fish, in a designer apron were being (allegedly) smuggled into australia from singapore. all of the fish were put down due to the risk posed to native fish if released - all before their species was even determined.

talk about dedication - Thomas L.'Taz' Stefanelli, employee of the year for Hungry Howie's pizza shop, was shot in the thigh during an altercation with an armed robber, then went on to deliver 4 more pizzas!

the ad says 'marriage died before husband did' an ohio woman is looking to sell her (soon to be) ex's metal casket. anyone in columbus, ohio interested, she's only asking 980 bucks...

this and that

so. the beastie boys.
james newton's law suit has been thrown out. apparently, 3 notes aren't enough to constitute copy right infringement. (thanks, christina)

i don't want to seem like a light weight, but this heat is KILLING me. no AC at home - i've got 79 fans going all at once though (hello enormous electric bill)
thankfully, the workplace is centrally air conditioned...

i need a vacation.
and i actually want to GO somewhere this time, dammit!

killer jellyfish of australia. these guys aren't the passive, floating, non-threatening types we've all heard of. NO. these dangerous things will hunt you down -at 2 knots per hour, and kill you in one, that's 1, minute flat!!


i want this to be my next ride... well, a girl can dream, right?


also, i'm surprised that no one commented on the masturbation article i linked to the other day.
my poems and ramblings, i understand, but a whole article on masturbation? huh