Swimming With Dolphins

Top 10 + 1 Albums of 2008

2009-02-16T11:22:00.001-05:00

2008 gave us A LOT of fantastic new albums. Here are my top 11 in no particular order...

The Dandy Warhols - …Earth to the Dandy Warhols

I heart The Dandy Warhols SO BAD!!! They can do no wrong – my only complaint is they need to tour NYC more often!!

Bloc Party – Intimacy

I didn’t see this album on any Top Lists of 2008 which is a terrible tragedy!!

Santogold – Santogold

This album is a fun, fun time.

Beck – Modern Guilt

Another phenomenal album – THANK YOU BECK

Kings of Leon – Only by the Night

KOL’s best album to date.

Conor Oberst – Conor Oberst

A fabulous first solo album for Oberst. There are so many good songs I can’t pick a favorite.

Death Cab for Cutie – Narrow Stairs

I don’t think Death Cab can make a bad album.

MGMT – Oracular Spectacular

Totally this year’s hipster trend album – but with good reason!

Blitzen Trapper – Furr

I fell in love with “Black River Killer” and the rest of the album followed suit.

R.E.M. – Accelerate

When I got my iPod and transferred all of my old CD’s I fell in love with R.E.M. all over again. It was great to have a new album and see them on tour in 2008.

The Virgins – The Virgins

Great entertaining, dance-y first album. I hope they keep up the momentum!

New Year's Resolutions

2009-02-11T18:39:00.002-05:00

My 2009 New Year's Resolution is to write more... I think I mentioned this a few posts ago. Anyway, you can tell from my first post coming in mid-February that I'm doing a stand-up job!

I actually kept a travel diary the whole 2.5 weeks I spent in Ireland/London so I actually have done some writing... now I just need to update the blog! I most definitely will post some photos & anecdotes from my trip in the near future. PROMISE!

Also, I'm sure you're all anticipating my top albums / concerts from 2008... my yearly musings on the year in music. This too will come soon. It requires more thought than I can actually muster right now.

So, check back soon!! Miss ya - mean it ;-)

The Dandy Wahols - Mis Amigos Remix

2008-12-02T10:45:00.001-05:00

8.8.08

2008-08-08T17:26:00.003-04:00

HAPPY WORLD HOOP DAY!

Bloc Party: Webster Hall, NYC: 8.7.08

2008-08-08T17:18:00.002-04:00

WOW!

Bloc Party f'n ROCKED last night.

Here's the setlist:
Hunting For Witches
Positive Tension
Waiting For The 718
Price Of Gas
So Here We Are
The Prayer
Once A Future King
Mercury
This Modern Love
Clay
Banquet.

Encore #1
Like Eating Glass
I Would Die 4 U
Flux
She's Hearing Voices
Helicopter.

Encore #2!?!
Pioneers

This was the first time I've seen Bloc Party and certainly not the last. I thought their last album was a little mellow for my taste but the new songs are back to the same rock your socks out formula that I fell in love with.

A guy next to me at the show said "this is like seeing the Beatles before Ed Sullivan. They are the future of Rock n' Roll"

I don't know if I'd go that far but DAMN it was a good show.

Thanks Bloc Party... I needed that

I SUCK

2008-08-08T17:16:00.002-04:00

So, I suck at blogging. I need to update my page more often so you guys can read about all the fun stuff I do and I am breaking your hearts.

*sorry*

I'm already planning my New Year's resolution for 2009 and it's going to be to write more... in my journal & on the blog. So everyone get ready for 2009!

Hoop Class!

2008-05-16T16:05:00.002-04:00

Hula hooping is perhaps one of the funnest crossover activities from childhood to adult. I've always been a natural at hooping (won the Hoop Contest at my best friend's dad's company picnic as a teen) and have always wanted to learn tricks.

Finally, I decided to pursue this dream and came upon hoopclass.com. It's a class for hoopers of all abilities to hone their skills and learn new ones. I've gone to 2 classes so far and aleady know a few tricks!

I really just can't say enough good things about it! So, I encourage all of you to dust off that hoop and join the fun!

p.s. don't miss out on World Hoop Day this year, 8.8.08

Greatest Slogan Ever!

2008-03-04T13:22:00.003-05:00

Check out www.goats.com to order items with this tag. I got the bumper stickers!

Top 6 Shows of 2007

2008-02-20T10:47:00.002-05:00

I realized that I haven't done any "top music something of 2007" yet this year so here we go!
In 2007 I saw 6 bands that I haven't seen play live before and all of the shows were top notch. So, everyone gets a shout out.
Here they are in date order:

February 24, 2007 - The Lemonheads, Maxwells, Hoboken
WOW! It was a real treat to see The Lemonheads play a tiny show. Evan Dando has still got it after all these years.

May 8, 2007 - Ben Gibbard, Town Hall, NYC
This show was super fun all around! Ben Gibbard played all my favorite Death Cab & Postal Service songs solo.

May 15, 2007 - Arctic Monkeys, Hammerstein Ballroom, NYC
I bet I looked good on the dancefloor! The AM show was a great stress release with all the dancing and singing. This show totally ROCKED!

July 17, 2007 - Shout Out Louds, Luna Lounge, Brooklyn
I <3 the SOL so bad. I was so psyched to see them play and they did not disappoint. Their songs are so good and they really put their heart in to the performance. Two thumbs up!

August 9, 2007 - The Moody Blues, Radio City Music Hall, NYC
I got my dad a ticket to this show for Father's Day because he likes the band and I had never seen them live so I thought it would be fun. MB played an awesome show - they have so many good songs that I don't hear very often and the band was as solid as they were oh so long ago.

October 9, 2007 - The Hives, Webster Hall, NYC
Like SOL The Hives are from Sweden (yeah Sweden for giving us some great rockin' bands!). The Hives are so energetic and entertaining. They make sure that you have a good time at their shows. From their matching outfits to their stage personas it's win win all around.

Oscar Time!

2008-02-19T13:20:00.004-05:00

So, it looks like I haven't blogged in a long time so probably nobody is attempting to read Swimming with Dolphins anymore.

But I'm back! (for now)

It's almost Oscar time and my roommate decided to throw an Oscar party. So, my genius idea is to make Oscar cookies complete with gold sugar flakes to make it all glitzy like the real one.

I figure I'll make my own cutout to use but I googled Oscar Cookie Cutter to see what would happen. Well, they do really make everything one could ever want, huh?

I'm in the first Sleater-Kinney Music Video

2007-10-16T16:30:00.000-04:00

Can you find me?

Addicted to VH1

2007-08-30T14:53:00.000-04:00

Have you seen the new shows Rock of Love & The Pick Up Artist? These shows are the most genius inventions since I Love New York and The Surreal Life.

Rock of Love:
Bret Michaels (singer of POISON!) is looking for love a la VH1 dating game style. As you would expect, the girls are insane, Bret is turned on by everything (she's psycho but that turns me on) and the best quote "don't threaten me with a good time" really bring the show together. You also get to experience Bret's amazing fashion sense including his addiction to cowboy hats and bandannas.

The Pick Up Artist
Some lame-o named Mystery (he's a magician) studied human psychology and patented a way to pick up girls. Apparently, him and his wing-men (J-Dog & Manta Ray or something like that) go around the world and teach dudes how to pick up chicks. Sounds like an awesome job. Anywhen, this show is so amusing because look at this guy...

Are those tanning goggles in Photo 1? His look is part of his "peacock" which makes you stand out from the crowd and gets the ladies interested. I don't know about you ladies but I think we're all laughing at you, not with you. Seriously, watch this show to see his plethora of furry and feathery hats and jackets. Oh, and don't forget all the goggles & DJ headphones, you never know when you might need to impromptu DJ while skydiving.

Ben Gibbard Solo Show

2007-05-09T13:38:00.000-04:00

Last night I saw Ben Gibbard & his pals David Bazan and Johnathan Rice.
Colin bought the tickets thinking that Ben was going to play a lot of The Postal Service songs but he was mistaken. But, I digress. Let's start from the beginning...

Johnathan Rice was a cute little hippie dude who spoke softly into the mic and made the audience sing along with his last song. We missed half of his set which I'm sad about but what we saw was fun & I'm going to have to find some of his recorded material.

David Bazan started off very rigid but quickly became a great "warmer upper" with some great lyrics and great covers of a Bob Dylan & a Radiohead song.

Then, Ben Gibbard came out with his acoustic guitar. He played a lot of Death Cab for Cutie songs, some The Postal Service Songs, a few originals and then some covers ranging from Donovan to Neil Young's "Harvest Moon" and Nirvana's "All Apologies" (he played this on the piano).

It was a quiet show, everyone stayed in their seats and swayed along to the music as Gibbard played his guitar or his piano and sang his face off. He thanked everyone for coming to see him instead of going to see The Arcade Fire and told us we could catch him, David & Johnathan later on Pay-Per-View in a cage match with the 15 members of Arcade Fire. That would be a site to see!!

The whole show lasted about 2 1/2 hours so Colin & I had some time to kill before catching our respective rides home. The theater was near Dave & Busters in Times Square so we played some air hockey & skee-ball. It's no cage match but here are the rusults (Becca:Colin):
Air Hockey 1:1
Skee-ball 3:0

Bonnaroo Countdown!

2007-04-30T10:24:00.000-04:00

COME ON FEEL THE LEMONHEADS!

2007-02-26T11:56:00.000-05:00

Saturday, February 24, 2007
VietNam and The Lemonheads played at Maxwell's in Hoboken (capacity 150? IT'S SMALL!)
I read an article about VietNam in Rolling Stone and was excited that they were the opening band for The Lemonheads. They were a fun mix of down south and surf rock with a kind of Kings of Leon-ish sound. And they all look like big hippies which is always fun :-)
The Lemonheads took the stage starting with "It's a shame about Ray" which turned into a 2-hour long set complete with an acoustic solo performance by Evan Dando and some rad covers including Jimi Hendrix's "The Wind Cried Mary" and a jam combination of The Velvet Undergrounds "Sunday Morning" mixed with a little "Leaving on a Jet Plane."
The bassist and drummer are old friends of my friend's boyfriend and they were tearing up the songs. The drummer was phenom and the bassist really meshed with Evan's antics.
I'm so excited I got to finally see The Lemonheads and it was at a great venue with a great vibe!

Winter X Games

2007-02-02T16:17:00.000-05:00

Hey guys & girls!
I just got back from the Winter X Games in Aspen, CO.
First off, the Rocky Mountains are one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen! The red rock, snowy tops and millions of trees that grace the land are truly a marvel that everyone should behold.

Aspen itself turns into a crazy party land full of people from across the US and every country imaginable. The snowboys & bunnies were all cute as pie and those competing in the games gave pretty good performances.

I got to go to the Free Skier party where Ozomatli played. The band was a fun mix of funk, jam, Spanish and hiphop but the crowd could have been better.

Eric's is a great bar to visit in downtown Aspen - you can smoke cigars, play pool and lounge.
We also got surprisingly good Asian food at the 2 places we patronized during the festival and the Italian food at Brunelleschis was pricey but well worth it!

Shaun White & Danny Kass autographed posters for me (I figured I probably wouldn't meet any other Olympic medal winners in my lifetime so why not cash in). And the Sponsor Tents were fun to visit, play games and get swag.

Aspen gets DAMN COLD at night and really takes its toll on your precious skin but I recommend hitting it up at least once in your lifetime.

Fanning Island, Republic of Kiribati

2007-01-13T13:33:00.000-05:00

In November I went on a cruise around Hawaii that took us about 1,000 miles from the Big Island down to Fanning Island.
Fanning Island is one of the most amazing and beautiful places I have ever seen in my life. It's an oval shaped coral atoll with a huge lagoon in the center of crystal blue water. Only about 2,000 people live on the island. Their only source of income is tourism and those are the only people that they see aside from a ship that brings goods from Australia twice a year. The islanders make beautiful jewelry, knives, hats and other trinkets to sell to visitors.
I took a stroll away from the tender landing sight and saw their quaint houses, kids climbing trees and luscious greens. The island was so brightly colored that it seemed like new color names had to be invented to describe its beauty.
These are some of my favorite photos from Fanning Island:

These singers greeted us as the tender embarked.

This boy reminded me of my brother who is always climbing trees.

Cute little piggy! I hope he's a pet and not soon to be dinner.

I think this is a garden?

Best nap ever!

Super cool fencing

Top 5 albums & Top 5 concerts of 2006 (short & sweet)

2006-12-27T15:31:00.000-05:00

Top 5 Albums of 2006

Beck – The Information
For the second year in a row, Beck makes my top 5 albums. The Information is genius from the lyrics and music to the stickers that let you create a custom album cover to a music video for every song. Beck knows where it’s at.

Wolfmother – Wolfmother
Take some Zeppelin & some AC/DC, throw it in a blender and pour me some Wolfmother!

Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
OK, they were surrounded by a lot of hype but you know what, the album rocks! This album is great to throw on when you’re in a dancing mood, need to get amped at the gym or just need a pick-me-up after work. I’m also a sucker for British accents.

Thom Yorke – The Eraser
This is a beautiful solo album by Thom Yorke. It’s just the right blend of everything you love about his music.

Tom Petty – Highway Companion
Start your engines and get your car on the road, this is the quintessential album for summer road trips.

Top 5 Shows of 2006

Sleater-Kinney – Webster Hall, NYC 8/2/2006
Sleater-Kinney’s last NY show before their “undetermined hiatus” was indeed a night to remember. The girls rocked the house as always. If you missed this band live, you missed an era.

Gorillaz – Apollo Theater, NYC 4/6/2006
The tickets were expensive but after the show you knew why. Gorillaz pulled out all the stops during this live performance of their album “Demon Days.” All of the guests from the album were present to do their part from De La Soul to Dennis Hopper.

Erin McKeown – Bowery Ballroom, NYC 4/2/2006
Erin has one of the greatest voices today and she knows how to use it. Her songs are fun and powerful and she performs them well.

The Allman Brothers and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers – Tweeter Center, Camden, NJ 8/18/2006
A classic pairing, The Allman Brothers and Tom Petty played a phenomenal show to a great audience that danced, sang and partook in life’s finer things.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Roseland Ballroom, NYC 5/3/2006
Karen O knows how to put on a show and the rest of the band solidly backs her up. Now, with songs from two albums, the band was able to play a longer set than previous tours.

GAWKER famous

2006-11-14T10:15:00.000-05:00

For work I had these urinal communicators produced for the new movie "Let's Go To Prison." I made GAWKER!

Thanks for the tip Mike

http://www.defamer.com/hollywood/marketing/annals-of-movie-marketing-please-urinate-on-our-new-film-214448

the countdown has BEGUN

2006-11-07T14:12:00.000-05:00

You should all be super-psyched to know that I'm leaving for Hawaii in 10 days!! I promise to take lots of photos, try the coffee and dance the Hula at every moment possible.

The day I fly home I'm going to see JET. This will make up for the missed MTV appearance!

hahahahahahaha

2006-10-06T09:09:00.000-04:00

Anna just sent this to me...

HAPPY FRIDAY!!

As Promised: JET photos

2006-10-04T13:22:00.000-04:00

Me & Chris Cester

Me, Cameron Muncey & Anna

I'm gonna be JET's girl

2006-09-28T14:46:00.000-04:00

I was invited to a taping at the FUSE TV studios this afternoon to see JET play songs from their new album and answer interview questions. I'm going to go out on a limb and say this is going to be one of the coolest things that I will ever do!!
The show airs next Tuesday, 10/3 at 9pm (est).
WATCH IT!

UPDATE: The show was cancelled due to laryngitis though the 3 remaining members of the band came out to sign autographs and take photos. I'll post the photos when I get them from Anna.
p.s. It's Anna's fault because she said these things always happen to her. Damn you Anna

9.6.06 :: Roger Waters @ PNC Bank Arts Center

2006-09-13T13:56:00.000-04:00

Rogers Waters is touring on his “Dark Side of the Moon” tour and made his way through Holmdel, NJ. Oddly enough, I do believe there was a full moon out in honor of the day (note: I think there was a full moon last time I saw RW at PNC too).
The show started off with some RW solo songs and Animals songs. There were also a few songs that were obviously dedicated to Syd Barrett like “Shine on you Crazy Diamond” and “Wish you were Here” with images of him on the large screens. When I saw Pink Floyd back in ’94 one of the highlights was watching the pigs blow up and fall down to the stage. During this show, the pig came out and was walked through the crowd by some balloonists and then released to float into the night sky. The pig happened to float towards the full moon and made for the start of a magical evening. After playing for a good while (maybe 45 min?) the band took a break and RW told us they would return to do Dark Side in its entirety.
Dark Side was awesome. Although it’s more of a Gilmour album than a Waters album, it was done well. A few different singers were called in and each one captured the vocals. There was also a very trippy background on the screens for people in that state of mind to enjoy.
After Dark Side, the band came back out for an encore; talk about going strong! The band ripped through some songs from The Wall and went out on a high note.

August 17 - 19

2006-08-22T13:31:00.000-04:00

Well folks, it's been a busy summer so I haven't had too much time to blog as of late. However, today I'm making the effort! This past weekend is an example of the crazy times that have made up this summer.

August 17 - Gnarls Barkley, Central Park Summerstage
My company is a sponsor of CPSS so we get a certain amount of free tickets to shows all summer. So many people wanted to go to GB that names were drawn out of a hat. I WON!
We all had a similar assessment of the show. If we had paid $ for it we would have been pissed. The band was good but not great. Cee-lo kept asking us if we understood what songs like "Feng Shui" and "Necromancer" were about. I wanted to yell back "duh, we're in NYC, c'mon now!" The songs were similar to the album, no extra pizzazz, beats, dancing potatoes, etc. Overall, I enjoyed myself but definitely not the best show I've seen all summer.

August 18 - Tom Petty & The Allman Brothers, Tweeter Center
I was really excited for this show because I have never seen the Allman Bros. before. They did not disappoint and played a great mix of songs from favorites like "sweet melissa" to songs I don't even know the names of. Then, before TP & the Heartbreakers took the stage, Petty came out to help on a Dylan song and a Clapton song. AMAZING STUFF!
TP & the Heartbreakers were amazing as usual. Totally on the ball with all of their songs, jamming out and talking in all the right places and just a really fun experience. The crowd at Tweeter was fantastic and random strangers next to me would turn and sing and dance with me or input their thoughts about the current song. To me, that is what concerts are all about - the people in attendance and the music coming together, feeding off each other and kicking ass. Every Tom Petty show I have been to has this vibe.

August 19 - Amsterjam, Randall's Island
Due to a wayward baby's daddy, we got to the show about 3 hours late and missed Busta Rhymes (who apparently was taken about by 5-0 right after his set for that assault charge). We saw a fun band on the second stage, Pangaea, and then went over to the main stage to see LL Cool J, Foo Fighters & Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. LL was awesome. He put a lot of bounce into his live show and played a lot of old school songs. His wife even came out and danced with him for one song, awwwwww. Foo Fighters were also good, Dave Ghrol looked hotter than normal which was fun. Then, of course TP & the H were phenom as usual with Ghrol coming out to play the last few songs with them. It had been a perfect day for a show, not too hot and a slight mist of rain came down during the FF set. The show had grossly undersold so there were barely any people compared to last year but it was great not to have to wait on line for drinks and to be close to the stage and still have plenty of room to dance.

And that my friends is that.

Busy Month!

2006-07-13T13:19:00.000-04:00

WHEW!
It's been a busy month in dolphin-land but I promise dear blog readers that I will update ASAP with news of Bonnaroo, Tom Petty and the Halloween in July party. Maybe some other suprises thrown in too.

However, and I know I'm late on the ball on this one, life as I know it is coming to a crashing end. My favorite band in the UNIVERSE is going on "undetermined hiatus" which I'm sure means "forever."
*sigh*
Sleater-Kinney, thou hast forsaken me...

Footballer's Wive$

2006-06-06T18:59:00.000-04:00

I just realized last night that I haven't mentioned Footballer's Wive$ on here yet. If you have never seen this show, go watch it. NOW! STOP READING AND GO WATCH IT!

If you have watched this show, then you know what I'm talking about! It's like Desperate Housewives times a million with all the 3D's drama, death and deception. Right now I've seen half of season one, most of season three and I just started into season four. (don't ask how that works)

You can buy/rent the first few seasons and they are currently showing season 4 on BBC America - Sunday nights.

CHECK IT OUT!!

Meg Ryan Hates Me

2006-06-05T14:31:00.000-04:00

I went to the Pearl Jam concert at Continental Airlines Arena on Saturday, June 3. It was going to be a rather uneventful night, just a regular concert experience. Love Elizabeth & I arrived at the show about an hour and a half before to tailgate. Those Pearl Jam kids love their tailgating and we had to join in on the fun.
Once inside, our tickets were for the 100's section and slightly behind the stage. We opted to move a few sections over so we could see better. Right after My Morning Jacket's set (we caught 1 song) who would come over and sit in our section? None other than Meg Ryan and 2 of her girlfriends.
Shortly thereafter we got kicked out of our seats by the people who had tickets to sit there (what gives?). So we moved BEHIND Meg Ryan. Then, right before Pearl Jam came onstage, Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen sat down in front of Meg Ryan!
Ashley was wearing her typical oversized white tee/dress ensemble and MK had a big flannel shirt and jeans on. Ashley danced like she was on heroin and MK whispered into her boyfriends ear. Then Ashley turned around and offered gum to Meg & friends. Of course I had to lean over and ask for a piece. Now I can say, "I got gum from MK."
But why does Meg Ryan hate me? Simple.
I was dancing crazy behind her friend and kept hitting her in the back of the head by accident. I always apologized but I'm sure I was very annoying and Meg's friend wanted to kill me. We also got security called on us because Meg thought we spilled beer on her. We weren't drinking - it was the dude standing next to me - great projection distance with the beer!

Heart in a Cage

2006-05-08T14:41:00.000-04:00

I was playing around with my cable TV on demand program yesterday and decided to check out the "music videos" section. I watched a few but one has me completely hooked - The Strokes video for Heart in a Cage is a fantastic piece of cinematography! I'm not sure who directed it but it's amazing! It was filmed in the financial district of New York and it has such a haunting, lonely feel. It's absolutely beautiful. I'm trying to figure out how to stream the video on my page but until then, go check it out on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsNkfFOZxZQ

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

2006-05-05T12:48:00.000-04:00

On Wednesday I headed over to Roseland to see the YYYs. It was my first time seeing them as the headlining band (3rd time seeing them in general). They played a great show - if you have never seen Karen O bust a move onstage you are missing out on a great moment in rock n' roll. She dominates with her crazy fasion sense, yells and poses. They played a lot of songs from the new album but also a few from the old. The show only lasted a little over an hour but it was definitely a good time.

Pizzazz

2006-04-18T16:29:00.000-04:00

Do you remember Jem & The Holograms? And their nemesis band rivals The Misfits? Well, Shana is having a "Halloween in July" party for her birthday this year and I'm going to be Pizzazz. I'm so excited.

Demon Days LIVE! (from the Apollo)

2006-04-11T09:27:00.000-04:00

I was really sick last week and not at all up to going to a concert but I paid a good amount of money to see the Gorillaz show and knew that it would not disappoint. So, I drove into Harlem instead of going my normal public transit route. It actually wasn’t a bad drive and I ended up parking on the street so I didn’t have to pay for parking (good stuff!). I had heard that the Gorillaz LIVE were like the Wizard and only appeared on a screen in a puff of smoke as their characters – perhaps they did this in a previous tour but for this one they were all out on the stage. They did try to stay in the dark and much of the focus was on the guest performers but the 70’s style rectangle block screens lit up the band during certain numbers and Damon Albarn left the safety of his piano for the encore (the two guys next to us thought it was *special guest Thom Yorke* hahaha). The show was Demon Days LIVE so they played the whole album in its entirety and it was absolutely amazing! Definitely a great show not to have been missed – there were kids dancing on stage, a 14-piece orchestra, back-up singers and the Harlem Gospel Choir sang on “Don’t Get Lost In Heaven” and “Demon Days”.

Special Guests:
Kids With Guns – Neneh Cherry
Dirty Harry – Booty Brown
November Has Come – MF Doom
Feel Good Inc – De La Soul
Every Planet We Reach Is Dead – Ike Turner
Dare – Shaun Ryder & Rosie Wilson
Fire Coming Out of the Monkey’s Head – Dennis Hopper

Erin McKeown

2006-04-07T17:44:00.000-04:00

I saw Erin at Bowery Ballroom on Sunday, April 2. She was amazing!
The first time I saw her was back in 1998 or so - she played a solo acoustic set full of spirit and raw talent. I believe she was going back to school and thus putting her music career on hold.
Fast forward, 2006 - I refound Erin. Now she has released a few critically acclaimed albums and has a backing band consisting of keyboards and drums. With the added instruments the folky Erin has become a little more rock 'n' roll and it's all good. Great voice, great vibes, Erin McKeown.

the best part of waking up

2006-03-27T14:50:00.000-05:00

I discovered this great new cereal at Whole Foods. Now you can have your hemp and eat it too!
Side effects may include:
* Eating several bowls to fulfill your munchie cravings
* Mild hallucinations
* Propensity to end every sentence with “dude” or “man”

An Old Gaelic Blessing

2006-03-19T19:22:00.000-05:00

I hope you all have recovered from a fantastic St. Patrick's Day. Mine was full of fun, dancing and drinking (after a LONG day of work). I'd like to share one of my favorite Gaelic blessings in memory of my grandfather, Thomas Patrick.

May those who
love us, love us
And those that
don't love us,
May God turn
their hearts;
And if he doesn't
turn their hearts
May he turn
their ankles
so we'll know them
by their limping.

i bet YOU look good on the dancefloor

2006-03-07T12:13:00.000-05:00

Dear Arctic Monkeys,
I'm going through some pretty extreme emotions right now on the bad side of spectrum. You have been my solace. Thank you fast-rockin', hard-knockin', dance-inducing Brit boys! Your adorable accents, charming boyish looks and clever lyrics have me jumping and dancing in my room instead of crying.
Keep Rockin,
Becca

**this post is in memory of my grandmother, Dorothy**

tickets! I love tickets!

2006-03-02T13:25:00.000-05:00

I’ve been having an annoying problem lately. By the time I find out about an upcoming show I want to see, it’s sold out. This is starting to drive me mad.
These are the recent shows I missed/will miss because I don’t have a ticket

• 2/24 – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
• 3/3 – The Strokes
• 3/10 – Metric/Islands (ok, I waited a hot minute to buy this ticket so it's my fault)
• 3/25 – Arctic Monkeys
• 4/14 – Franz Ferdinand/Death Cab (this was sold out during pre-sale which is totally unfair!)

If anyone wants to sell/donate a ticket to the cause – HOOK ME UP!

Let it Snow!

2006-02-13T17:37:00.000-05:00

After a year of telling myself after every rain/snow storm that I absolutely needed to buy a pair of rain boots; I did. It was fantastic to wear them while walking the NYC streets today. And they are sooooooooo fashionable!

I learned something new today

2006-02-02T16:04:00.000-05:00

Groundhog Day started in Europe, but it wasn't called Groundhog Day then. The holiday was Candlemas, a Christian holiday. The legend about the animal and its shadow was part of Candlemas, but the animal in question was the hedgehog. The Pilgrims brought the tradition to America but couldn't find a hedgehog here, so they seized upon the next best thing.

BTW, Spike (hedgehog pictured above) DID NOT see his shadow today but Punxsutawney Phil did… who are we to believe?

Bonnaroo 2006

2006-02-01T13:08:00.000-05:00

The line-up for Bonnaroo was put up on the site today. I almost just ran around the office screaming when I saw who is playing. LOOK AT ALL THE FREAKIN AWESOME AS ALL HELL BANDS!!!!!!!!!! And it's not even a complete list yet!

Radiohead
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Phil Lesh & Friends
Beck
Elvis Costello & the Imposters
Bonnie Raitt
Death Cab for Cutie
moe.
Bright Eyes
The Neville Brothers
Bela Fleck & the Flecktones
Buddy Guy
Damian Marley
Ben Folds
Robert Randolph & the Family Band
Dr. John
Matisyahu
G. Love & Special Sauce
My Morning Jacket
Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
Steel Pulse
Mike Gordon and Ramble Dove
Cat Power
Medeski Martin & Wood
Nickel Creek
Gomez
Atmosphere
Steve Earle
Blues Traveler
Amadou & Mariam
Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks
Dresden Dolls
Son Volt
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Jerry Douglas
Soulive
Rusted Root
Devendra Banhart Band
Donavon Frankenreiter
Mike Doughty
Sasha
Grace Potter & the Nocturnals
The Magic Numbers
Bill Frisell
Seu Jorge
Bettye LaVette
Dungen
Shooter Jennings
Rebirth Brass Band
Robinella
Andrew Bird
Steel Train
Jackie Greene
Devotchka
The Wood Brothers
dios (malos)
Toubab Krewe
The Motet
Marah
I-Nine
Balkan Beat Box
The Cat Empire

Vacations or BUST

2006-01-31T12:09:00.000-05:00

Now that I'm back from Costa Rica it's time to figure out where I'm going to travel for the rest of the year. I'm hoping it comes up something like this:
• March – Vegas (??) we’ll see if this works out, it’s the alternate to the failed trip to Egypt in February
• May – Reno for Memorial Day to visit mom
• Summer – Ocean City, MD as often as possible (love it there!!)
• December – 10-day Hawaiian Island Cruise

Food Coma

2006-01-24T15:44:00.000-05:00

Restaurant week in NYC is a great time of year. Many top notch NY restaurants offer up a prix fixe lunch & dinner menu to die for. Today for lunch, I hit up Dos Caminos on Park Avenue South. The restaurant has inviting décor, comfy seating and the wait staff was very friendly. For the prix fixe menu, usually there is a choice of about 3 items in the categories of appetizers, entrees and desserts.
First, we ordered guacamole which was made in front of us at the table. We ordered it spicy and after we had finished eating it we could feel the heat in our mouths. Dos Caminos has 140 kinds of tequilas so we also felt obligated to order some margaritas.
As my appetizer, I ordered Sopa de Calabaza which was roasted butternut squash, cheese filled corn masa dumplings and ancho chile crema. Overall, the dish was good though perhaps a little bland. For an entrée, I ordered the Enchiladas Verdes which were enchiladas filled with spinach and mushrooms and toped with Oaxaca cheese, salsa verde and served with Mexican red rice on the side. These were excellent, the salsa verde had great flavor. Although I was completely stuffed after the entrée, I had to eat my dessert of Mexican Chocolate Empanadas. These chocolate filled empanadas were a total sin complete with Patron XO espresso ice cream and sun dried cherry salsita.
After lunch I was barely able to drag myself out of the table for the 4 block walk back to my office. Tonight, I am going to the gym!

RO-SHAM-BO -- SHOOT

2006-01-19T16:56:00.000-05:00

Today I got an email that A&E and Bud Light have combined forces to bring the USA Rock Paper Scissor League to bars across America.
The press release reads:
Bud Light, the world’s best-selling light beer announced today that it would host a nationwide tournament with the USARPS League to find the best Rock Paper Scissors player in the country. Starting in January in bars all across the U.S., competitors 21 and older will have the opportunity to play the sport in a classic tournament ladder structure. In April, more than 500 finalists and their guests will be flown to The House of Blues at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas to play for a grand prize of $50,000.
I don't know about you guys but I think this is totally rad! I'm a pretty good RPS player and I'm hoping to come across some bar challenges in the near future. Watch out Vegas, here I come!

Costa Rica Chica

2006-01-18T12:44:00.000-05:00

Me, Colin & Sara - out in El Pueblo

Wednesday, January 11
Costa Rica here we come!! Unfortunately we did not have a direct flight and stopped in Miami and Panama before actually hitting up San Jose. Finally, we arrived at the hostel around 8:30pm. Sara had already checked in and we found her on the computer (free internet access) where she would spend much time while we were at the hostel. We freshened up a little, changed over some American dollars and headed out to El Pueblo, a town that is bars, clubs, restaurants and art galleries. Sara introduced us to the Costa Rican Guaro shot. Apparently, Costa Rican’s drink this rum shot like a tequila shot with some salt & lime. Perhaps I should have read this warning I found on a website before drinking: If you want to experience [Guaro] safely, the main thing to know is to not drink it straight like tequila: a couple of shots may numb various parts of your body you might have planned to use later in the day.
So, at every bar and club we visited we did shots of Guaro and drank a Pilsen beer. After about 6 or so bars I was pretty wasted, tripped, fell, bruised my leg and ripped my jeans. whoops!

Thursday, January 12
God was I hungover. I did not want to get out of bed. Luckily, we didn’t have anything planned so we all slept in and kind of wasted half a day. After getting up we wandered around San Jose, took a dip in the pool, ate some food, wandered around San Jose again and drank Pilsen. We met lots of cool people at the hostel throughout the day and made plans to go out with a bunch of people to Carnival. That plan got nixed so then we decided to go to the reggae bar in San Pedro. We started trying to leave for the bar at 9:30pm. Around midnight we actually made it into a taxi and over to the club. The club was nothing special so we took in the sights and were about ready to leave by 1:15am. This is when we discovered that Sara had left us to fend for ourselves (she was super drunk and didn’t realize). Normally, when out on vacation I always have the address of the place I’m staying at, it’s a good rule of thumb. Of course, in this instance I had no idea what the address was, just the name and the people in San Pedro had no idea where I was talking about. Luckily, I knew that we were by a Holiday Inn which I figured people would know. They did. We made it back to the hostel and stopped at a bar next door for a few more Pilsens.

Friday, THE 13th!!
We all managed to wake up at 7:30am so we could go on a rainforest canopy/white water rafting tour for the day. The drive took about two hours and we ended up somewhere by the Sarapiqui River. First up was the canopy tour which is a series of ziplines and platforms built through the trees in the rainforest. The three of us along with 2 guides and 2 of their co-workers zipped through the forest FAST. It was a definite thrill. We had a huge lunch prepared for us when we were done with the tour and the place we were at was like a tropical paradise complete with a butterfly reserve, exotic birds and hammocks to chillax in.
Next up, white water rafting. The rapids were only a class II so it was nothing too tricky but it was a beautiful day and the scenery was absolutely gorgeous. Our guide was really fun and made us spin in circles, crash into the banks, fall in the water and eat fresh pineapple and watermelon. It was really sad when the whole trip was over and we had to return to San Jose.
When we got back to San Jose, we got all our stuff together and headed over to the Coca-Cola bus station where we caught a bus to Sara’s town, Puntarenas. We dropped all of our stuff at her house, took showers and headed out for a night in this port town. Sara is going to school in Puntarenas so a lot of her friends were back in town for the start of the new semester. We also got to see the ocean for the first time and it was fantastic!

Saturday, January 14th
Today we were going to head to Jaco beach to go surfing. This time, we didn’t have an alarm to wake us up and we missed the 11:30 bus to Jaco. Sara then decided that she didn’t have the money to continue to travel with us so we hung around Puntarenas until the 4:30 bus when Colin & I left Sara to Jaco on our own. I was a little nervous since my Spanish isn’t so great but we made it there OK and even found a cool hostel. The hostel was booked up so Colin & I ended up staying in different rooms but that was totally cool. A bunch of people from the hostel were all hanging out in a common area outside so after we got some dinner and a 6-pack (of Pilsen) we sat down and chatted with the other travelers. Most of them were lucky enough to be spending months in Costa Rica. I was pretty jealous! I think around 11pm or so everyone decided to head out to Monkey Bar which was a place close by. It was PACKED to the brim with Ticos and tourists alike. The DJ was really good and everyone was having a great time. Eventually, Colin & I had to leave since we were waking up at 6am to go surfing!

Sunday, January 15th
6am – ugh, so early in the morning but it was time for SURFING!!!! We got up, got ready and then found out we couldn’t rent surfboards until 7:30am so we went out and got some breakfast. When we got back around 7:15 we were able to pick up some boards and we walked the ½ block to the ocean. There weren’t too many people on the beach and no one else was surfing. The waves were gnarly and strong. I got my ass kicked pretty bad a couple of times when I fell off my board. We also both got sunburned even though we had put on sun tan lotion. After a bunch of good rides, a couple of hard falls, bruising my chin & getting stung by something, I headed out of the water after 10am. Around 10:30 the waves weren’t too good anyway. It turns out that the current had shifted recently and brought a whole bunch of garbage and sea creatures into the beach area so a lot of people were getting bitten by crabs and stung by man-o-wars. I’m glad I didn’t know that before I went out!
We went out to lunch with some of the guys at the hostel and when we returned it started raining. January is the dry season in Costa Rica so it was weird for them to get so much rain. After the storm, I took off on my own in search of postcard stamps and a look around the town.
Most of the people at the hostel had left and those of us who remained were leaving Monday so we all hung out in the common area outside. I finally went to bed a midnight since we had to catch the bus to San Jose in the morning.

Monday, January 16th
7am – woke up, got ready and headed to the bus station. Our bus to the San Jose airport was leaving at 8am. Around 10am we got to the airport, checked in, went through security and finally ate some breakfast. Our non-stop flight home left at 1:30pm. Bye Costa Rica!! I’ll miss you!!

Special Report :: Stalkers

2006-01-10T13:13:00.000-05:00

Generally, people take stock at the end of the year of their accomplishments, failures and how many concerts they made it to. For stalkers, I guess they see this time to reach out to the women in their lives that they lost.
Case in point:
My co-worker, S, went on a date with a well-off single male who is looking to be married. However, he is very dedicated to being a Hasidic Jew and needed her to convert in order for the relationship to work. She said no. End of story? Of course not. He sent 3 books to the office with titles like “Hasidic Jews for teenagers” which S definitely is not. That is weird and creepy.
Second case in point:
Another co-worker, A, met a guy, went out with him once and then he gave her a bizarre reason why they shouldn’t see each again. This was fine with A. Then he started calling and she didn’t pick up or return his phone calls. Just before Christmas, he left another message telling her that if she received an Ugly Doll it was from him. She told me this story on the day that a package arrived for her at work. I couldn’t believe that she didn’t want to open it right away and see what it was! A was afraid it was an Ugly Doll with a stake in its heart or something along those lines. Well, long story short, the package was an Ugly Doll. A never called the guy back and now, said Ugly Doll is on my desk because she didn’t want it. This is also weird and creepy.
My case in point:
I have 2 stalkers that have been trying to contact me lately. I haven’t talked to either of them since the spring of 2005 so I don’t know why they think I want to talk to them now. Stalker one called several times and finally left a poem on my answering machine. The poem was amusing but nonetheless weird and creepy. Stalker two sent me text messages on Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Eve and another day this January saying how great I am and how lucky he is to have me in his life, etc. Um, call me crazy but if I don’t call you or answer your text messages, I’m not in your life.
WEIRD AND CREEPY

Let this be a lesson to all of you out there who are thinking of doing any of the aforementioned things…

Flin Flon

2006-01-09T13:19:00.000-05:00

Over the years many of my CDs have been stolen from my car & apartment. Sadly, many of these CDs have not been replaced and I go through periods of longing. About a week ago I finally decided to reorder Flin Flon's 1998 wonder, A-OK. This bass and drum heavy album is a work of genius by Mark Robinson, Matt Datesman and Nattles. I strongly recommend that everyone check this album out.

it's all about first impressions

2006-01-05T09:26:00.000-05:00

The new Strokes album came out on January 3 and I was filled with anticipation. I absolutely loved the first two records and couldn’t wait for some more rockin’ tunes. I pre-ordered the CD so I got the “deluxe” package which included a 7” of their single “Juicebox.” Well, after a few days of excitedly coming home and checking the mail, last night it was waiting for me when I got home from work. The first cool thing about “First Impressions of Earth” is that the deluxe edition comes with “picture cards” of each band member so you can have your favorite as the cover (or change it up or keep the original cover pictured here). The Strokes have always had cool looking art included with the albums and this one is no exception.
So, time for the music.
Well, at this point I only listened to the CD once so I don’t feel I’m giving it a fair assessment at all, BUT where are all the rockin’ songs??? Julian Casablancas (love that name), you go and get married and you can’t rock out anymore??? I was disappointed. A few reviews I read of the album were all gushing about The Strokes “mature” sound but I liked the fun, quirky, short, dance, rock songs of the previous two albums and “First Impressions” doesn’t have any. Don’t get me wrong, the music sounds great and I absolutely love Julian’s lounge-rocker voice but I miss the beats you can dance to!! So, that is my first impression of “First Impressions of Earth.”

New Year's Day

2006-01-03T13:27:00.000-05:00

January 1, usually, this day should be saved for recovering from December 31 the year before but not in 2006. I just read my 2006 horoscope and apparently I’m going to be even more active/energetic this year than normal and for those of you that know me this will be no small feat as I am generally the busiest girl in the world.
So, this is how I actively started off 2006:
10:45 am – dragged myself out of bed & took a shower
12:45 pm – met up with Mike, stopped at Starbucks for Gingerbread Latte (skim with whip)
1:00 pm – parked car at Harrison PATH & hopped on the train for the city
2:30 pm – frolicked with butterflies at the Museum of Natural History, one tried to go AWOL on Mike’s pant leg but the security guard was on point and caught said butterfly before it wreaked havoc on the other museum goers
After the museum we visited Starbucks again, this time for a Pumpkin Spice Latte (skim with whip). Then, we stopped in at Tower to buy some CD’s (I bought Quasi to replace my long stolen CD & Mike bought Beck’s Guero & a Billy Joel hits CD) all the while walking through Lincoln Center, Columbus Circle and Times Square where there was still confetti flying in the sky. We stopped at Mars 2112 to take a quick trip to Mars for a drink but unfortunately the bar was closed. Apparently Martians celebrate New Year’s Day on January 1 as well.
Sometime after 5:00 pm – stopped for drinks at my favorite mid-town bar, The Blarney Stone
8:45 pm – hailed a cab to Tribeca for dinner, Ninja was closed so we went to Maryanne’s (awesome Mexican food)
10:40 pm – got kicked out of Maryanne’s, walked to the WTC and took the PATH back to Harrison
11:45 pm – returned home only to get sucked into the Degrassi marathon on the-n for the 3rd day in a row. damn you Degrassi

Top 5 of '05

2005-12-21T13:35:00.000-05:00

Do you want the non-mainstream answer to the question "what were the top 5 albums of 2005?" Well, you got it. Go to this website: http://www.looserecord.com/Feature/Feature_Main.php?docid=31

Candikini!

2005-12-13T11:36:00.000-05:00

I made the greatest discovery on the internet yesterday. You can buy a candy necklace bra & g-string undies. Amazing!

2005 Concerts :: The Year In Review

2005-12-12T12:48:00.000-05:00

I think I am missing some shows in between the first two, but perhaps not. It is damn cold in NYC during the winter and it’s hard to drag myself out of doors sometimes. The following list of shows is what I can remember going to in 2005. I’m sure something is missing. My NYE resolution is to keep better track of the concerts I go to in 2006.

12/31/04 – Wilco/The Flaming Lips/Sleater-Kinney :: Holy Awesome Line-up Batman! I got so drunk the show is a little blurry but I know it was awesome and I know that Wilco’s cover of “Don’t Fear the Reaper” kicked a lot of ass. Plus they dropped balloons and confetti on us at midnight.

3/29/05 – The Black Crowes :: Saw Kate Hudson, she’s cute. The stage set-up was beautiful, the band was solid.

4/19/05 – Garbage :: Shirley Manson is the voice of sex. I’m glad the band is back together.

5/20/05 – The Butchies :: It was their last show together, awwwwwwww. We’ll miss you guys and Kaia looked super-hot.

5/25/05 – Rasputina :: Chicks with cellos. Opening band Contramano, dudes with cellos. Way to rock the cello guys, keep it up.

6/4/05 – The Killers & Louis XIV :: Lots of teeny-boppers but I got in free thanks to my awesome job. Mina also managed to get in with her camera, minus the battery. Thanks Zoom.

6/9 – 6/12/05 – Bonnaroo :: 4 days of crazy bands, hippies dancing, people smoking and tripping, no showers and torrential rain pour. What more can you ask of a festival? How about a masquerade? Yeah, we did that.

6/23/05 – Sleater-Kinney :: Sleater-Kinney always puts on a good show and the new album rocks so hard, it was great to see live. During the encore, the girls did a cover of Danzig’s “Mother,” how intense is that?

6/24/05 – Oasis w/ Jet :: I love Jet but they were no fun to see at MSG. Oasis really impressed me though, the new album sounds great live. Tom & I got drunk with the fun couple next to us. Good times.

6/25/05 – Tom Petty w/ The Black Crowes :: The Black Crowes put on some really awesome shows this year, this was my 3rd. I love Petty, he’s my celeb dad. Put these two together and it was one of the greatest concert moments in history.

8/8/05 – Kings of Leon :: Oh those southern rocker boys…

8/20/05 – Amsterjam :: Was very wary of going to such a big corporate rock concert but it turned out to be a lot of fun. We danced our asses off with the hippies at the second stage during the day. At night we braved the front of the main stage for Snoop Dogg & the Chili Peppers. Snoop is the man. John Frusciante wails on the guitar. The Chili Peppers encore with Snoop and Bootsy Collins was a sight to see. History in the making…

8/30/05 – Mommy and Daddy :: New band discovery. Everyone needs to check out this hot duo.

9/24/05 – The White Stripes :: I trekked all the way down to Coney Island for this show and was not disappointed. Jack & Meg are some crazy-ass musicians.

10/6/05 – Beck :: Beck rocks all that exists. His opener McRorie was an amazing one-man-bander from Canada who did covers of “Rapper’s Delight” and “Baby Got Back,” what?? Then, Beck’s ensemble dances their socks off (that one guy has to show me some moves!) AND, the crew played plates & glasses from a dinner table on the stage at one point. If that isn’t hardcore, genius entertainment, I don’t know what is.

11/3/05 – Nine Inch Nails :: I hadn’t seen Trent since high school, I missed those guys. However, Trent turned into a scary machismo dude but his guitar sidekick made up for it with his pretty self and outlandish dance/thrash moves.

11/22/05 – U2 :: Never saw this band before. Got really drunk with Mike and the show is a little blurry. Maybe it’s something about MSG that makes me get really drunk at shows there. Hmmmmm

11/29/05 – The Dandy Warhols :: I love this band. Courtney is hottt. They should take me on tour with them. Go Portland!

12/6/05 – The Islands :: Stood in front of funny drunk guys and danced to the crazy rhythm of Islands. If only it was tropical weather outside as well.

Nick is Sex on Wheels

2005-12-07T10:11:00.000-05:00

photo by mk

Or so someone shouted out of the crowd at the Islands show last night at Knitting Factory. I must admit that Nick is a brooding hottie with some of the greatest hair I have ever seen on a guy but I’m not sure if that translates into sex on wheels.
Actually, the whole band was rather adorable in their all white jumpsuit-y outfits. They were all wearing different things (in white) that suited their particular styles which looked awesome on stage as a whole.
Islands consisted of the drummer, French bass player, 2 Asian string/recorder/guitar/keyboard players, the singer/guitarist/keyboard player (Nick), a bass (?) saxophone player and another guitarist/back-up singer. So if you know anything about the stage at the Knitting Factory, you’ll know that it was very crowded!
The crowd at the show was pretty amusing. Mina & I pushed out way up to the middle of the stage about 2 heads back so she could snap up some photos for looserecord.com and the guy behind us was completely drunk and hysterical. He informed us that we could get high off of dust-off (y’know that stuff that cleans your keyboard) and almost lit my hair on fire. good times.
Islands were fantastic. Their quirky, hipster, ho-down songs were great fun to bop to. Maybe next time we’ll bring Nick home to 392.

Bangin' Breakfast

2005-12-05T10:39:00.000-05:00

My boss decided that in order for our department (of 7) to be more comradely we should all spend quality time together each month doing something fun. Of course I got the greatest job of being the first one to pull something together. So, it obviously had to be good. I got turned down for ice skating at Bryant Park and watching one of the Christmas trees get lit up. Also, I got turned down for the free wine tasting with jazz music idea.
Finally, I turned to the only thing that everyone loves, FOOD. So, this morning I lugged in a suitcase to Manhattan from my digs in Jersey loaded with:
• Smoothie maker
• Waffle maker
• Waffle mix
• Butter
• Syrup
• Fresh Strawberries, bananas & raspberries
• Apple Sauce
• Smoothie mix
• Ice
• Blueberry muffins

Needless to say, our smoothie/waffle making party was a big hit and the rest of the office was very jealous! However, we were nice and did give people some of our leftover smoothies.

Arms Are For Hugging The Dandy Warhols

2005-12-02T13:47:00.000-05:00

Years ago, when The Dandy Warhols first album came out, I won tickets to see them at Maxwell's in Hoboken. For those of you in the know, this is a VERY SMALL venue where you can't help but trip over the band. The Dandy's were very nice and gave us all free t-shirts and stickers with the phrase "arms are for hugging the dandy warhols." I kind of lost track of the band for a while until I heard of them touring about 2 years ago. The New York show was sold out but when I was visiting Sheela in DC, we got tickets to see them at the Black Cat. I was pleasantly suprised to find out that not only had The Dandy's progressed a lot as musicians, they put on one hell of a show.
Fast forward to Tuesday, November, 29, 2005. The Dandy Warhols played a show at Webster Hall in NYC. Of course I had to go to the show so I asked my buddies at www.looserecord.com to get me a press pass to review the show. And so it was done.
I don't think most people realize what an awesome band The Dandy Warhols are. Their fun and creativity oozes out of their music and their stage presence. Individually they are all very eclectic, psychedelic and punky at the same time. Go ahead; check out some Dandy Warhol's stuff right now, I bet you'll like it.

Underwear is the new Outerwear

2005-11-22T14:22:00.000-05:00

Ever since High School I have always wanted to own something Versace. Well, I broke down today and ordered this great peach Intensive Logo T-shirt and matching undies.

My Heart Will Go On

2005-11-21T13:59:00.000-05:00

No one has ever told me I look like a celebrity, ever. I always get "you look like my friend, cousin, etc." real-life people. So, I think it's very bizarre that in the last week I got two different celeb comparisons. I think this second one is definitely closer than J. Lo! On Saturday I met my friend at the bar, she was there with a few of her friends that I had never met before. After we had been hanging out for a bit, one of the friends turns to me and goes "do you know who you look like? It was the first thing I thought of when you walked in the bar. Kate Winslet." I wish I had Depp and DiCaprio on my list of hot guys I made out with…

Becca from the block

2005-11-15T17:01:00.000-05:00

Some crazy guy at the bar I work at said I look like J-Lo during her Ben Affleck stage. You guys be the judge...

It's THAT time of year again

2005-11-09T16:22:00.000-05:00

OK, I know it’s not even Thanksgiving yet but I don’t even like Thanksgiving that much (might be the whole I’m a vegetarian and don’t care for football thing) and you do need to start getting ready for Christmas waaaaaay before December. Normally, I start buying people little Christmas presents as early as the summer so I don’t have to spend too much money all at once. And, last minute shopping is not my cup of tea. I nearly go berserk waiting in line to purchase things (why should I have to wait on line to give YOU money). So, I realized about a week ago that I better get my ass in gear because I had not purchased one single gift so far. Now, a week later I am finished shopping for my mom (Golden Girls on DVD seasons 1-3) and got some stuff for the rest of my family and friends; all of it purchased online! My favorite site is overstock.com since everything is priced really well & the shipping is very minimal (which is why I hate ordering things, shipping is usually outrageous). My brother has informed me that overstock.com is the devil so it’s a good thing we have Santa to counteract my badness… or what was that about Santa spelling out Satan…
Hmmmmmm
So I guess I really have no point with this whole blurb except to inform you that I have started Christmas shopping, have not yet stepped foot in a store (though it will happen, I promise) and if you want something in particular for Christmas, comment now or forever hold your peace!

Army of Trent

2005-11-04T10:26:00.000-05:00

Remember when Trent Reznor was a nice little boy with long stringy gorgeous black hair a fragile physique but a killer, angry voice? Well, he shaved his head, got JACKED and now looks like he just left the Marine Corp. But damn that boy can still sing.
The show at Madison Square Garden last night was phenomenal. I was lucky enough to score a floor GA ticket and was standing next to the stage for the whole show. Trent sweated his heart out (literally) as he took us through bad ass old school songs like “Head Like a Hole” and “Wish” to the ballads, “Hurt” and “Something I Could Never Have” to the new stuff “The Hand That Feeds” and “You Know What You Are?”
The stage looked amazing with crazy colored lights and hanging bars that looked like the random setting on a treadmill (the bars going up & down). At one point during the show a huge piece of glittery material covered the stage and images were projected onto it of horrors and then George W. dancing. But the most entertaining part of the show was Trent’s guitar player. This guy was CRAZY! It was hard to tell how he was even playing guitar because he kept flinging it around his body and the stage posing maniacally. I really can’t even describe how insane this guy was with his guitar but I strongly urge everyone to find him and watch him play guitar, AMAZING! Throughout the show he knocked over amps and threw his mic in between back-up singing and the guitar antics.
After almost 2 hours of playing NIN thanked the crowd, trashed their equipment and left for the night, no encore. Now I just have to recover my hearing and it’ll be all good. Thanks Trent, I needed that.

Halloween ROCKS!

2005-10-26T13:56:00.000-04:00

I love Halloween; it's my favorite holiday. Picking out and/or making my costume every year is always a fun challenge. This year I am living out my life-long dream of being Rainbow Brite!
Halloween Costumes Past:
2004- candy corn
2003- tinker bell
2002- angel (I made my own wings, they kicked ass!)
2001- glam rocker (I had to explain this costume to people... I thought EVERYONE knew Ziggy Stardust!)

Aftermath of the Business Trip

2005-10-19T16:46:00.000-04:00

I was in Northern CA for work over the weekend and had to check out several Scandia Funland’s that we are using for promotions. Scandia is a pretty cool place! The inside is filled with all sorts of arcade games (including my faves “the dancing game” “pinball” and “air hockey”). They had all sorts of crazy games I have never seen before like a rafting game where you actually sit in a raft-type thing with a paddle and soccer game where you really kick the soccer ball! Outside they had bumper boats, a car race track, batting cages and mini-golf. It was more fun than Dave & Busters! (but no alcohol)
Of course I had to take some time out to play mini-golf with my Mom (she drove out from Reno to say "hi"). I won the first game by several strokes but then she beat me the next game by 1!

I <3 Business Trips!

2005-10-13T14:15:00.000-04:00

Work is sending me to San Francisco, CA today! I'll be returning on Monday with some kind of good story I'm sure. Actually, the places I have to go to have mini-golf... hmmmm

Drunk Email From My Brother:

2005-10-10T10:03:00.000-04:00

!I just wanted to add:
A funny thing happened to me tonight. I'll tell you but sorry if it's out of order I'm jagermeisster drunk. Soooooo.... My boy got back from iraq today. We go to the bar in a boat... yeah, we went to the bar...in a boat.. anyway, it's raining like a son of a bitch so we are wearing ponchos. We look alittle silly especailly since john was wearing a bright pink poncho.
We come walking into the bar and get more drunk, then cause a scene, amost get kicked out. The whole time we are both telling bad pirate jokes because everyone knew we took a boat there, it was great. We leave on some what good terms with the owner of the bar and we start going back the my house.
We stopped under route 80 to moon some cars and... After that I noticed my friend was alittle drunk about half an hour later while we are in the boat so I jokingly got out of the boat said, "I'm walking" and walked away. I get around a bend and wait awhile. No sign of him. So I yell.. Nothing.. Finally I hear him down the river... He fell in the river! That's right! He's sitting in two feet of water in the boat! Well, me being such great friend I get in the boat and start scooping out water.
We make it back to my house which was not easy with the wieght of the water tipping us.. and john tipping us. We get to the kennel, then we drank beer... So now as I sit hear and tyoe this john is passed-out soaking wet in nothing but boxers sitting upright in a chair in the kennel for the girls that work at the kennel to find him in the morning. haha yes! I'm glad I got to share that will you.

Bully of the Opera

2005-10-06T10:14:00.000-04:00

Last night I went to see Phantom of the Opera for the first time. It was fantastic and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. As Mina said, we had the full NY experience, a misguided dinner, a show and aimlessly strolling around NY before my train home (check out her blog www.luckyiscoming.blogspot.com).
But, perhaps the most interested part of the night was the fight that broke out in the two rows behind us during the intermission.
Fight? On Broadway? You don’t say?
Oh, I do say.
Perhaps the most uncouth, soprano-esque old man was making noise during the entire first half of the show (he was two rows behind us). We can only imagine that the people in front of him (behind us) asked him to be quieter when intermission started. Well, this DID NOT go over well with gramps and he started threatening the woman and her husband. The woman tried to defend her husband as he walked away saying “don’t you touch my husband” while the old man said he would “kick his ass.” Then old mans wife chimes in “you’re such a bitch.” At this point EVERYONE around them is looking at them in awe of this crazy display of irrationality and the 2 people next to the instigators who I can only assume were related to them somehow were trying to sink into their seats and pretend they didn’t know the crazies. Then the disgruntled man yells out “faggot” which was totally inappropriate.
At this point we had enough of the show and walked away discussing whether or not the guy would get thrown out of the theatre. While chatting in the lobby I saw the “relatives” of crazy & his wife quickly walking out of the theatre and when we returned to our seats we found out that crazy man was escorted out of the theatre by the cops. Only in New York my friends… only in New York.

Big Fish

2005-10-05T16:42:00.000-04:00

This is a family photo of Patrick, Bing and Owen from the westwrite.com site

My boss, Patrick just brought us in homemade chocolate chip cookies last Friday. They were REALLY GOOD! Later that day, I found out he is a spear fisherman (along with his father and brother). Check out www.westwrite.com to learn more – it’s really fascinating! His father, Bing was Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs in the Reagan administration and has written several books about war and the military including one that was just released: No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah. His brother, Owen served as a Marine infantry officer and has written several books as well. He has also written for the New York Times and was the “token male” on the Playboy X-Treme team during the Eco-Challenge. Oh the amazing things that you learn about your co-workers…

Fluppy Dogs

2005-10-04T09:52:00.000-04:00

The greatest cartoon in the whole entire world is The Fluppy Dogs. I just found out today that is was supposed to be a series but never made it past the 1 hour pilot episode (which is amazing). The story is about dog-like creatures from a world of snow and rainbow lights who travel to different worlds opening invisible doors with keys. They get stuck in our world and the story is about them trying to find their way home. It’s an adorable story, the Fluppies can talk and when you pet them you’ll fly (and of course they love pizza)! I went on a mad hunt this morning to see if I could find the movie and found some pretty interesting sites. I got the pictures from http://www.alligatorjuice.com/fluplj.html. I’m trying to order the movie from http://www.jensraredvds.com/. And you can buy Fluppy dolls from eBay and other 80s toy sites. I highly recommend everyone try and see this movie!

Speaking of GURU...

2005-09-30T11:58:00.000-04:00

I’m not really one for energy drinks, generally I like good old fashioned tea or flavored coffee (mmm, chocolate raspberry). But I am hooked on GURU. Check it out at www.guruenergy.com. From the first can you are totally hooked – I think they put speed in it. The first time I drank a GURU I was so hopped up I couldn’t even use scissors to cut a straight line. Now I can drink 3 of them and be fine yet extremely hyper. I went for a good few months without my fix but finally broke down and ordered 3 cases from the website last week… God help us all.

I'm A Guru

2005-09-30T11:52:00.000-04:00

It definitely was a mission for most of the crowd to get to Keyspan Park for The White Stripes/The Shins concert. Keyspan Park is just outside of Coney Island at the Cyclones baseball stadium and a LONG subway ride from Manhattan. According to my friend Mina, we always get asked for directions because we have puffy, round cheeks which makes us look like we smile a lot and therefore makes us approachable. SO, 9 people on the Q train came up to me to see if I knew how to get to Keyspan Park. Now I’ve been to Coney Island once on the train & I don’t even live in New York but I checked the Cyclones website and got directions… if I could do that, why couldn’t they??
Anywhen, so they dubbed me the guru and were going to follow me like the piper to the show. How fickle they were though because as we shuffled off the train at the Coney Island stop they all decided to turn left up the stairs and I turned right toward the Surf Ave. sign (which is the street where the venue was).
Eventually everyone got there – I had gone to the bathroom and gotten a beer by the time the “train people” arrived.
I was writing for www.looserecord.com at the show & a few people came up to me to see what I was writing for. One guy, it turned out, had been a senior editor at Spin magazine! He gave me his card so *fingers crossed* maybe I’ll have something published in Spin some day…
The White Stripes played an amazing show with most of the songs from the new album. Kudos to their simplistic yet eerie set design of red, smoke, white feathery trees and some eerie-looking Virgin Mary & Crucifix statues (from what I can tell). If you want to read a more in depth review go check out Loose, in fact, do it anyway :-)

The OC Part Trois

2005-09-20T14:16:00.000-04:00

Well, here I am, back from a most unrelaxing weekend in the OC. Why you ask? It was bike week which means 125,000 Harleys were all VROOMING non-stop all day and all night. It's hard to fathom how many bikers & bikes there were in this small town but now I know.
So, in keeping with tradition Colin & I played mini-golf Friday night at the Pirate golf place. This one we have been looking at for a while and just hadn't made it yet. Turns out we hit the jackpot. This place was two mini-golf courses in the same area so of course we had to take advantage! We started off with Volocano mini-golf where we got to see the worst volcano eruption ever produced. Literally some puffs of dry ice were spat into the air with accompanying multi-colored lights and tribal music.
The pirate battle was a little better with cannons lighting up and then splashes of water whooshing on either side of the battle. At the end the pirates lost, booooo. Pirate golf was also better than Volcano golf because there were actual water traps! Colin & I didn't fare too well with the water traps though and we both shot 8 over par. We're normally WAY BETTER than that. Colin beat me at Volcano golf. He again shot par while I shot 3 over... I think he practices when I'm not looking.

The OC Part Deux

2005-09-15T10:55:00.000-04:00

It's my mom's 50th bday (actually yesterday was). So we're going to meet her in the OC for fun & festivities. I promise to bring back yet another mini-golf report.

Living It Up At The OC

2005-09-14T13:16:00.000-04:00

The Shark Hole

Ocean City, Maryland, sure they have great beaches, a killer boardwalk and great bars but the real clincher is mini-golf. Yep, mini-golf. My brother & I go to the OC every year and hit up at least 1 mini-golf venue each time and we are no way near done. The courses range from an enchanted forest to an African safari to a space land and medieval times. Unfortunately some of them look cool but have really boring putting greens. Over Labor Day weekend, we went to yet another mini-golf place that didn’t look too exciting but was the first one that we saw open at 10:30pm so we didn’t want to take chances going elsewhere. The small little place with a beach theme was the greatest mini-golf place we have been to on the strip so far! The holes were inventive and each one was different with hills, jumps over water and fun obstacles. Somehow the tables have turned over the years and my brother seems to beat me all the time at mini-golf but it’s always a close game. He putted on par and I was 4 over.

Music Video Premier

2005-08-31T13:58:00.000-04:00

photo by Susan Surface

Mommy and Daddy fed me pizza and ROCKED MY WORLD. Last night, at Cake Shop. I got the new Mommy and Daddy CD to review for www.looserecord.com and discovered a band that everyone should know about! The CD, "Duel at Dawn" comes out on 9.27.05 (you can pre-order from www.mommyanddaddy.com) and at Cake Shop they were having a video premier for "Franconia Road."
At 8:00 pm the crowd was served pizza to go along with free Vitamin Water & 2-4-1 beers... who takes care of you better than Mommy & Daddy!
At 8:30 Mommy and Daddy played only 4 songs before the video premier, what a tease! This band oozes sexuality and old school rock all over the place. It was an amazing experience that everyone needs to have. Please find them when they come to your town or if you're in NYC their record release party is at the Mercury Lounge on 9.21.05.

No Wonder My Favorite Color Is Blue

2005-08-26T14:38:00.000-04:00

My favorite color has been BLUE for as long as I can remember. I was doing some research at work just now & came across a Princeton Review career test. I figured I would take it to see if I have chosen the right career path... It seems I have.

My interest color is BLUE:
People with blue Interests like job responsibilities and occupations that involve creative, humanistic, thoughtful, and quiet types of activities. Blue Interests include abstracting, theorizing, designing, writing, reflecting, and originating, which often lead to work in editing, teaching, composing, inventing, mediating, clergy, and writing.
My usual style is BLUE:
People with blue styles prefer to perform their job responsibilities in a manner that is supportive and helpful to others with a minimum of confrontation. They prefer to work where they have time to think things through before acting. People with blue style tend to be insightful, reflective, selectively sociable, creative, thoughtful, emotional, imaginative, and sensitive. Usually they thrive in a cutting edge, informally paced, future-oriented environment. You will want to choose a work environment or career path in which your style is welcomed and produces results.

Amsterjam, Randall's Island, August 20

2005-08-24T14:02:00.000-04:00

I decided to go to Amsterjam because Katie asked me to go with her. I figured it would be a pretty run-of-the-mill mainstream concert so I wasn’t expecting too much. It was 21+ though so the no teeny bopper factor was good. They even checked everyone’s id’s with a special bracelet machine that printed out Heineken bracelets with our names on them “over age 21 verified.”
The show started at 11:30 but we figured the good bands wouldn’t be on until later in the afternoon. We were wrong! When we arrived at 2:30 Garbage was already playing. It was also incredibly humid, muggy and gross on the island which was physically exhausting. Of course you can’t go to a beer sponsored event and not partake so we waited on line for an hour to get beer tickets. Luckily we just bought a bunch so we didn’t have to wait on line again. While on line we heard the rest of Garbage’s set and special guest Peaches came out to sing with Shirley which was a blast. Then Wyclef came on, we heard a few songs and moseyed over to the 2nd stage in the Green Light District (ha ha) where we thought Fishbone was playing. When we got there another band called Antibalas was on with a full horn section and animated dread-locked singer. The area was kind of shaded and full of hippies dancing and smoking so we decided to hang out – and Fishbone was on next! The Anibalas and Fishbone sets were awesome and the crowd was fun to hang around and dance with. I even ventured out into the mosh pit which I haven’t done in a while!
After Fishbone we grabbed some more beer & food and headed into the main stage crowd to situate ourselves for Snoop Dogg. At this point we were spent and the night didn’t bring any refreshing cool breezes. It was just as humid and gross and now we were surrounded by thousands of people. Then, Snoop came out and it was all worth it! He did everything from Snoop/Dr. Dre numbers to the latest songs and they were all tons of fun.
Next up, Chili Peppers. They played all of their hits from over the years but what I liked the best was John Fruisciante. I had never seen him play with the Pepper’s before and he is an AMAZING guitarist. I was very impressed. Finally, for the encore (though the Pepper’s didn’t leave the stage) Bootsy Collins and Snoop were called out to play on the last few numbers. This kind of thing only happens once in a lifetime. I think Katie put it best, “I can’t believe this is happening right in front of me.” Touché.

What Element Am I?

2005-08-23T14:11:00.000-04:00

Your element is Wind. You are the guy/girl that is
unpredictable. No one knows what you're going
to do next and what you're in the mood for.
Studying is not your thing and you would rather
go to a party than stay home. Life is just for
fun and you need to be free to live according
to you. You waste no time on lies, if you feel
or think one thing you say it even if it hurts.
Of course, people may be quite upset but that
doesn't really bother you. It's not that you
don't care, because you do, but in these
situations it's a waste of time. You live up in
the clouds and are quite a dreamer about life.
People often consider you beautiful, but harsh
and they would think twice before getting to
know you. But once they do, they'll learn that
you are always willing to take yourself and
your friends on adventures. Never will it be a
boring time with you and your friends
appreciate that. You are not often seen sad,
but you have your times. If someone has been
mean to you, you can quite easily trash-talk
them for betraying you. Nevertheless, you are
most of the time a good spirit who just want to
have some fun. Rate and message!

What is your element? [with pics + detailed answeres]
brought to you by Quizilla

What Type Of Killer Am I?

2005-08-23T14:06:00.000-04:00

You are a Samurai.
You are full of honour and value respect. You
are not really the stereotypical hero, but you
do fight for good. Just in your own way. For
you, it is most certainly okay to kill an evil
person, if it is for justice and peace. You
also don't belive in mourning all the time and
think that once you've hit a bad stage in life
you just have to get up again. It's pointless
to concentrate on emotional pain and better to
just get on with everything. You also are a
down to earth type of person and think before
you act. Impulsive people may annoy you
somewhat.

Main weapon: Sword
Quote: "Always do the right thing.
This will gratify some people and astonish the
rest" -Mark Twain
Facial expression: Small smile

What Type of Killer Are You? [cool pictures]
brought to you by

I <3 Spike

2005-08-19T13:47:00.000-04:00

Spike is a hedgehog. He eats dry cat food. When I go to pick him up he freaks out and balls up and gets very prickly but then he mellows out and crawls all over my lap when we watch movies. May I recommend that everyone get a hedgehog who would like a pet but doesn't have time to walk the dog and doesn't like to change cat litter.

Why I love Cork, Ireland:

2005-08-10T13:21:00.000-04:00

*This is the other city that never sleeps *The enchanted forest (see photo)
*It is full of HOT guys with INCREDIBLE accents
*Everyone is ridiculously nice and outgoing
*They love to drink
*The River Lee (and the numerous empty kegs awaiting take away)
*The beds at Sheila’s hostel (unfortunately we only spend an hour sleeping in the during the course of 3 nights)
*Kopparberg 7% cider (we discovered it at The Lobby)
*Irish jams at The Lobby & the cute old guy who played with his son at the pub next door
*Drinking on the sly on the sidewalk outside of the pub
*Holding hands
*Sharing the newest American “slang” with the locals (I swear people say “spicy pie”)
*Open bus top tours
*That church with the gold angel
*En Brogue (? something like that) where the fun only begins
*You never get a hangover
*Driving stick on the wrong side of the car
*The pub that signed a postcard for Ceallaigh’s mom
*The jail tour
*CRASHING THE MALL

Sleater-Kinney, Roseland Ballroom, 6/23/2005

2005-06-24T12:38:00.000-04:00

I went to see Sleater-Kinney last night for about the 25th time and they never fail to amaze me. Corin was looking cute as ever in a leopard tank top that I couldn’t tell if it was attached to the black knee-length flow-y skirt or not. I miss her red hair though! Janet was uncharacteristically in a white sequined tank top (she always wears black). And Carrie of course was wearing a collared navy button down with small white polka dots while she jumped, kicked and danced around the stage.
They started off the show with the first song from the new album “The Fox” and totally brought the house down. Then they went on to “Wilderness” before they played “One More Hour” off of the “Dig Me Out” ep. The girls weren’t very talkative (not that they usually are, but sometimes) and all we got were a few “thank yous” and “it’s good to be back in NY.”
I’ve seen some of the set lists from recent shows and it seems like they played more songs & older songs at this show. S-K played most of “The Woods” including my current fave “Jumpers.” They also played a few songs off of “One Beat” like “Light-Rail Coyote,” “Sympathy” and the song about the twin towers, “Far Away.”
For the FIRST encore s-k played some song that I’ve never heard before, I think it was a cover and it was great because Janet started out singing then her & Corin sang the chorus, followed by Carrie singing, chorus and then Corin finishing it up! It was super-fantastic to hear them all sing a song like that :-) I’m so in love! <3
Then, S-K comes out for a SECOND encore, dedicates the song to Glen and starts ripping into the Danzig song “Mother.” I was dumbfounded and absolutely amazed at how awesome it was!! Good job girls! Of course at this point the two girls in front of me start making out and causing a scene while I’m trying to sing/dance and see the stage through the mess of people. (Luckily S-K fans are mostly on the shorter side). Anyway, the crowd was kind of young and I don’t think they appreciated the Danzig song like I did! Then the girls finished it up with “Words + Guitar,” an all-time concert ending crowd pleaser and the crowd went nuts! And, my concert tee was only $15… EAT THAT CLEAR CHANNEL!

Oasis/Jet, Madison Square Garden, 6/22/05

2005-06-23T13:30:00.000-04:00

I went to go see the Oasis/Jet show at MSG last night with my friend Tom after getting ditched by my *date*. We have a trend of getting ridiculously drunk together and this night was no exception! I just bought the new Oasis cd and was not too impressed so I didn’t know what to expect of the guys. I saw Oasis once before in HS and they put on a good show, I’ve also seen Jet 3 times in the last year so I knew they were going to be good but I wasn’t looking forward to seeing them in an arena setting.
So I meet Tom at The Blarney Stone (where the bartenders have Irish accents!) and had a few drinks before heading over to MSG. Our seats were pretty good in the 100s section so that was a plus. We didn’t end up waiting too long before Jet came out starting the set with “Cold Hard Bitch.” Their set-up was cool with 3 huge posters of an angelic woman that changed colors with the lights. They played one song that I didn’t know and most of the *hits* from their album. As I expected, after being spoiled and seeing Jet in small venues it wasn’t the same to be a lone stander in a sea of chairs. And of course there were the lighters… The arena was still only about half full by the time they left the stage.
Oasis hit the stage after a pretty quick stage change. I’m pretty sure they opened with “Love One Another” or whatever that song is from the new album. (It’s so John Lennon so I understand but I just want to say, hello? you guys don’t even get along with each other!) Anyway, the new albums ROCKS when they played in live! Oasis definitely still has it and put on an amazing show! They played mostly songs from the new album and a few older songs like “What’s the Story Morning Glory.” Their backdrop on the stage was scattered Christmas light-type things that looked really cool. And the people next to us (we went up closer than our normal seats) let us squeeze in to the one empty seat next to them (I was half in the aisle) and toasted beers with us throughout the night. Cheers!
Tom lost his hoodie but it was all good.

Black Crowes @ Hammerstein 3/30/05

2005-04-06T17:29:00.000-04:00

The Black Crowes are an amazing band to see live. Before this show I had seen them play Further Festival and with Jimmy Paige (which was one of the most amazing concerts ever!). When they announced the additional dates at Hammerstein I had to snag myself some tickets and I'm ever so glad I did.
The opening band was the North Mississippi All Stars who played some rockin' blues like nobody's business. It was a pleasure to listen to them jam.
For the Black Crowes, the stage set was an intricate, beautiful painting of what looked like a gothic cathedral and there were chandeliers and candelabras everywhere that changed colors along with the stage lighting. It was a very surreal atmosphere that accompanied the music well. The Black Crowes did not disappoint!
"Cursed Diamond" was the kick-off song and the band was really on. They jammed their way through "Gone," "Nebakenezer" and ended the set with the classic "Hard to Handle." Then, for the encore some members of North Mississippi All Stars joined the band on stage for an amazing climax. If you check out their website, www.blackcrowes.com, you can check out their upcoming tour dates with one of my all-time favorites, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Roadrunners Bar & Grill

2005-03-14T10:24:00.000-05:00

So, I've always wanted to be a bartender but don't care to spend the money for school, etc. My housemate is moving to California at the end of the month and he is a bartender at Roadrunners Bar & Grill in Lincoln Park, NJ. The bar needs someone to take over his shift so I started training last week. This is mostly a beer drinking bar so I haven't been able to make anything too exciting yet, though I did make some LIT's and Margaritas on Saturday.
The Grill has an AMAZING menu, especially if you like red meat. Their 3/4 lb. hamburgers and Flinstone-sized ribs are among the favorites. The corn chowder is amazing and the cheddar/broccoli bites are a great bar snack. Portions are huge and the drinks are strong.
The regulars are the beer drinkers, so I'd like to get the young crowd in to keep me on my drink-making-toes. So, Tuesday & Thursday night if you wanna go to a cool bar check out Roadrunners, 7 Midwood Road in Lincoln Park!

Meat Market NYC

2005-02-15T12:29:00.000-05:00

I just joined my friends in a blog about NYC pick up attempts. It's absolutely fabulous and hysterically funny. Check it out! meatmarketnyc.blogspot.com

New Year's 2005!

2005-01-13T16:15:00.000-05:00

This New Year's Eve, I decided to do something I had never done before... attend a concert. Now, don't get me wrong - I have been to more concerts than most, but never on New Year's. It was a most unexpected line-up at Madison Square Garden: Sleater-Kinney, The Flaming Lips and Wilco.
Sleater-Kinney is one of my most favorite groups in the world and I've seen them play around 25 times (literally). I love those girls, however, this time was a little disappointing. I knew they were working on a new album and figured they would be playing a bunch of new songs in a very short set - but no old songs at all??? What's up with that!!
The last time I saw The Flaming Lips was in the mid-90's and their show was crazy with Christmas lights all over the stage, pinwheels and bubble machines - I knew they were going to have something up their sleeves. What a performance! First, there were giant balloons floating all over the arena, then, there were crazy, dressed-up, dancers on-stage and the band was great.
Now since it was New Year's Eve, I did have a couple of drinks throughout the night which made the Wilco set a little hazy. (No mom - I didn't drink too much). When the clock struck midnight the ceiling opened up and balloons and confetti galore littered the whole arena! It was an amazing sight. Wilco also played a *kickass* version of "Don't Fear the Reaper" which might have been the best song all night. The show ended around 1 AM and needless to say, I was not disappointed in how I spend my New Year's 2005. Good friends, good music, dancing & drinking!

2004-12-21T12:44:00.000-05:00

Becca swims with dolphins in the Bahamas!

As any Tri-Stater knows, going to the Bahamas in January is absolutely wonderful! I left sub-zero temperatures for sunny beaches and never wanted to return. A few years ago, I went to Mexico and missed my opportunity to swim with dolphins. It was something I always wanted to do and when I arrived in the Bahamas the first thing I noticed was Unexso where they offered Swim With Dolphins. I signed up right away.
The dolphin swim actually takes place in a private lagoon. A little boat took ten of us to the dolphin habitat and an instructor told us what to expect. Two dolphins (a boy and a girl) were swimming in a sectioned off area and we split into groups of five to swim with the dolphins for about an hour.
It was a magical experience to swim alongside the dolphins. We were taught different motions to make them sing and have splash fights, we got hugs and kisses (dolphins have fish breath) and they were so smooth to the touch. They were smart, gentle and playful and the experience will stay with me for a lifetime.