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Wednesday, December 31, 2003
Back in New York
Back in sunny New York City. It sure doesn't feel like the end of December around here. I rode my bike all the way to band practice in Dumbo and back yesterday. It wasn't really that cold at all.
On the plane yesterday I finished Al Franken's Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them. That book had me laughing out loud throughout. Franken is a fun and clear writer, making cogent arguments against the right that just drip with satire. If you're like me and you 1) are a fuming liberal, 2) have a salient interest in politics after the last election fiasco, 3) have a short attention span, and 4) would like to punch Rush Limbaugh in the teeth, then you should definitely check out the book.
Last night Jackie and I went to CBGB's for a band contest. A boyfriend of one of Jackie's friends from work plays guitar for a band called Scout. They played a great set. I definitely can't wait for the Hello Nurse who on the 5th.
Our New Years plans have actually solidified. Jon Yang has organized a group of friends roughly the size of a limousine. So, we're getting one of those disgusting 24-person Excursion stretch jobs. We will be cruising around to different bars and parties all night. It sounds like a good time. I just hope no one gets carsick.
11:17 AM
Monday, December 29, 2003
scamming Northwest and LOTR
I went to my flight today at Traverse City Airport, and the flight was booked up and they offered flight vouchers. I ran up to the desk, since my travel plans were flexible. In fact, I was planning on leaving Tuesday until I looked at my flight info and realized it was for Monday. So, the lady at the gate gave me a $300 voucher. Woohoo! I then went downstairs to retrieve my luggage. When I got to the counter I told the man that the black duffle bag was mine and I was taking a voucher. He proceeds to give me ANOTHER $300 voucher. Woo-f'ing-Hoo! I didn't say a word.
I'm riding high thinking I just pulled a fast one on Northwest with $600 in flight vouchers. How man dollars have I given Northwest over the years? How many Northwest flights have been delayed or cancelled? So many! I did not feel very guilty.
Wouldn't you know it, 2 hours later at home I get a call from Northwest. "Oh, I thought the slips you gave me were for the $300 voucher. Two vouchers? No, I have two documents but I thought that was for the same voucher..." I tried, but in the end I have to give one back. I can't complain - the original $300 is good enough.
Staying an extra night was great. I got to see the new Lord of the Rings movie at the Bay Theater, a quaint little single-screen movie place in town. I loved the movie. I had a great time watching it. I have to watch it again since I had to take a few bathroom breaks during the three hour timespan. Lynne joked that "The End" should have been replaced with "The Endless."
8am flight tomorrow. I can't wait to get back to New York. Michigan is great, but I miss home.
9:09 PM
Sunday, December 28, 2003
Happy Anniversary to Tim & Lynne
Today was my dad & Lynne's 4th wedding anniversary. We had a fun afternoon celebrating. First we went to an art museum in Traverse City. We saw two exhibits. One was pictures taken by the Hubble telescope. It was pretty cool, and would have been much better under certain conditions. The second exhibit was a series of photographs taken by a photographer who hung out with The Who and other fabulous rockers of the late 60's/ early 70's. The pictures were enlarged to enormous proportions, and they really made me wish the guys in Hello Nurse partied a bit harder sometimes. (I can't really complain - they are great musicians to whom I tip my hat every practice.)
After our trip to the museum we went to a french restaurant in town. The food was fantastic. I really have been eating well since I've been home. Steak two nights in a row! Since I eat steak probably 5-7 times a year, I try to get the good stuff whenever possible [someone else is paying].
Our plan was to watch the new Lord of the Rings movie at a local Suttons Bay theatre, but the 9pm show we planned on seeing doesn't happen on Sundays. Oh well. My dad and I watched the Ravens beat the Steelers in overtime - too bad Jamal Lewis couldn't break the single season rushing record. He was damn close!
This afternoon I showed Lynne how to use the double space function on a word document. I feel so sorry for her. She has been working so hard on essays for a Disney sponsored teaching award she has been nominated for. She didn't know about the double-space function, so she has been manually entering all the spaces by hand with returns. Every time she would edit a word, she would have to go back through the entire document and redo the spacing. No wonder it's been taking so long!
I'm flying back to New York tomorrow. I should be back in town around 6pm. If anyone wants to grab a drink tomorrow night let me know.
9:14 PM
Saturday, December 27, 2003
Christmas, Family, Driving
I hope if you are reading this blog, and celebrate Christmas, that you had a wonderful day filled with family and love. I hope if you are reading this blog, and you do not celebrate Christmas, that all of the hassle created around the holiday season hasn't disrupted your routine too bad. And if you were smart enought NOT to take any vacation days around Christmas time you probably had an empty office with plenty of butt xeroxes, paper airplanes, and no work to go around. And if you are not reading this blog, I hope that your holiday was awful and a bat got stuck in your attic.
My Christmas day was spent at my grandmother's house in Dearborn, MI. My aunt Julie flew into town from San Francisco, and my parents drove down from up-north. We had a lazy morning and made it to the tree around 1pm. We each had bought small fun presents for each other, and it made the time around the tree festive and cheerful. For dinner we went to the Dearborn Inn, an ultra-conservative establishment that I had thought served decent food. The staff definitely wasn't fond of working on Christmas night, and we tried to be as nice as possible to our server. The food was awful all around, and due to some archaic law that didn't need to follow any separation of church and state nonsense, we weren't allowed to order alcohol during our Christmas meal. It's times like this when I remember why I moved out of Michigan.
Christmas night grandma uncovered a board game in her closet called Rummicube. This game is somewhat like gin-rummy, but it is played with colored number tiles (like scrabble, but with numbers) and players try to make strings of runs (numbers of the same color in numerical order) or groups (tiles of the same numerical value with different colors). We had a blast downing wine, talking trash, and playing Rummicube until midnight.
Our family usually downplays Christmas day because our entire extended family gets together for a new tradition - Boxing Day! Everyone from my dad's side of the family (everyone!) came to my aunt Sue's house in Saline, MI for Boxing Day. We had a gigantic meal, and afterwards the adults took their turns on cousin Jane's new electric scooter doing laps in the basement. So much fun! There was an ocean of presents under the tree since so many people came, so the present opening extravaganza took at least a few hours. Afterwards we gathered on the steps for a family picture. This was the first time since probably my parents' wedding that everyone came together in one place.
After all the Boxing Day fun, I got on the road around 8pm to drive up-north (as we Michiganders call anything above Midland, MI) to my parents' place. My uncle Jim gave me directions, and I traced out my route on my atlas. Of course, this atlas is severely outdated, because I was looking for M-27, which no longer exists. I drove right past M-127, it's new name. After a detour through Ionia, MI (a place you will probably never have ANY reason to visit) and 45 minutes out of my way, I made it back to M-127, which proceeded to immediately change speed limits to 50mph from 70. [Insert image of Christian howling curse words above an already blasting Ok Computer.]
I made it up to Suttons Bay, MI around 1:45am so wired on coffee that I proceeded to stay up for an extra hour watching infomercials. Yes, I guess I really don't need cable afterall. Then I climbed into bed and read another half hour of Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them by Al Franken. I bought this book during Christmas shopping, and it's been hard to put it down. Al Franken is absolutely hilarious.
Tonight my uncle Bob is driving up to help my dad with some business. We might see the new Lord of the Rings movie tonight or tomorrow. A trip to the Traverse City Art Museum may also be sprinkled into the schedule. Right now, I'm going to go snowshoeing. Yeah, you heard me. When you're up-north you can do things like that.
11:42 AM
Monday, December 22, 2003
back in d-town
Today I served the craigslist community well by offering a rideshare to someone back to Detroit. Turns out she lives across the street from me in Brooklyn. We met up around 2:30 pm and started the long drive back to the midwest. Fortunately, she and I have very similar music tastes, so we had the stero cranked for the whole ride. She had a bad fever all day, so I felt bac for her. By the time we reached the Denny's in Novi, MI where I dropped her off for her mom to pick her up she had the chills and was shaking. All in all, it was a decent experience. I really can't complain since she paid for half the gas, all the tolls and she drove for about 3 hours while I slept.
Right now I'm at my friend Dan's place in Auburn Hills, MI. His mom's office supply chain is closing down since it's so hard to compete with the big box stores like OfficeMax and Staples. Dan's house is like an office supply graveyard. All of his computers are networked, even to a print server, and there are printers all over the place. His girlfriend is happy with some of the loot, but after a while it's gets to be a bit much. It's great to see him, and he's living large in his subsidized HOUSE that they pay $602/month for. It's an awesome place.
Ok, I'm so happy that I'm out of the car! I'm going to bed now.
11:55 PM
Sunday, December 21, 2003
ipod & rideshare - I can't believe it
Jackie got me an iPod for Christmas. An f'ing iPod! I really can't believe it. It's such a cool toy, I can't stop playing with it. Thanks Jackie!
Of course, I don't end up playing with it for very long because my computer is too ancient to handle it. I've been fighting with it all day trying to load XP so I can then crack it open and add a firewire card I bought today. I unistalled just about every program on my computer trying to make room for the xp install files. Unfortunately, it just won't do it. I guess I'm going to have to do a clean wipe of this machine, which is always scary. Last time I did that was a total nightmare. Drew can attest to that.
It looks like for Christmas I'm going to be harassing my dad to help me get a new computer. The one I have now has served me (sometimes well) for 5 1/2 years. I think it's time to get a new machine. Considering how much time I spend on this thing, it would be a great investment. Of course, the one problem with intestments are that first you need the investmentation, and there's not a lot of investmentation blowing around here these days.
In other good news, I found a rideshare for my trip back to Detroit tomorrow. I looked in the craigslist rideshare section and e-mailed a few people looking for rides to Michigan. A girl named Kelly called me back. Turns out, she lives ACROSS THE STREET. What a weird coincidence! She has to go to Hoboken or something for a meeting tomorrow, so we're leaving later in the day than I had anticipated. But, since she's paying for gas, tolls, and lunch - no complaints here! She's from Howell; I hope she's not racist.
For all you Detroit folks, I'll be in town late tomorrow evening. I'll be looking to go out Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Let's get together! 917-952-380
7:48 PM
Saturday, December 20, 2003
worn out
I'm on vacation! But I'm completely worn out already. We stayed in the studio until 2:30am last night.
Today I slept in, I went shopping for Jackie's gifts, and now I'm trying to teach myself to make nice bows. At the moment, these bows are ug-ly. Clumsy fingers.
4:53 PM
Thursday, December 18, 2003
office party
This morning is not peachy. In fact, it's a little bit painful. Luckily, most other people in the office are feeling the same way, including my boss. The office party started in the 7th floor conference room at 6pm. The marketing team decorated the bejesus out of that little room. It was actually very nice in there. We had drinks, hors d'ouevres, and it was a pleasant time.
Around 8 everyone came back to the 6th floor, shut off the computers, and went to a bar in Times Square. We had a room reserved at the bar, and people kept on-a'drinkin' throughout the evening. I thought it would be a nice gesture to buy my manager and I a round of tequilla shots. As the bartender handed me the shots I looked to the other end of the bar where my manager, Pat, had also bought a round of tequilla shots. Uh oh! We dutifully drank two each. The rest of the people in my position (recruitment fellow) eventually left. All the young bucks had gone to bed, leaving the old folks to keep on partying.
One girl in our office, Jackie, told us about a party she was going to afterwards. Most people thought it would be best to just go home, but a few brave [irresponsible] folks decided to check it out. We rounded up a group of die-hards, including Pat, Amy Christie, and 3 others. We didn't exactly know the address of the party because Jackie had gone earlier and she wasn't answering her phone, but we knew it was on 37th btw 8th & 9th ave. When we got to the block I just started trying to get into different buildings to explore. I rang all the buzzers on one building [asshole!] until someone buzzed me in. I walked all the way up to the roof, but I didn't hear any parties. I went out on the roof and looked down to rest of our group on the street. "Hey guys, no party in here! I think there's one next door!" For some reason that story has been going around the office all day today. "...And then Christian appeared on the roof!.."
As I was trying to get into a few more buildings the girls ran into some guy on the street that was going to a party on the block. We figured we'd follow along. At least it was some kind of party, whether it was Jackie's party or not. The elevator opened onto a full-floor loft party, sponsored by a group of software companies including Limewire. There was hardly anyone there (1am on a Wednesday), but we found Jackie and she was amazed that we actually showed up, considering we didn't know the address. There was a DJ playing house music, small groups of metros talking software, and two bars. Two FREE bars. I ordered us all vodka tonics, but we didn't even bother drinking them when we found out there was champagne. We drank champagne, and I sat on the couch with some TFA folks and watched my supervisor and another girl flirt with the guys. We practiced our gaydar and repeated, "Wow, everyone else is missing out!" to each other.
At the end of the night I stumbled home, listening to Jet on the subway to keep myself up. Today I feel kind of foggy, but luckily the day is full of lecture-type meetings where I don't really have to think. Plus, since this is the last official day of an office conference, we get 10-minute chair massages and free messenger bags!
Tonight I'm all about making dinner, plunking down on the couch and watching either Copland or Dirty Harry. I'm totally into cop movies these days after watching the French Connection and Bullit in the past few weeks. And now I must work [zone out].
7:44 AM
Tuesday, December 16, 2003
work, wrok, krow
work: Work is very busy this week. Boss is in town. Intense days will very little down time. Vacation will be nice.
wrok: Spent the entire evening in the studio tonight. We have a few samples ready - rough mixes. Stuff is starting to sound good. Studio nights until 12:30am don't make the next morning very peachy, however.
krow: Good thing there was no old crow at the recording session tonight. The fuzz have a "check for drunk driving" road block [excuse for racial profiling] set up on Bushwick & Varet.
Last night I went to Bowery Ballroom with Jon Yang and Georgia to see Women of Rock courtesy of Rolling Stone, Budweiser, and our good friend Ed Gross. Free beer, free rock - and Ed came around later in the night with free drink tickets for free tequilla! Free hangover.
The opening acts were decent - Lucky Town and Leona Naess. Leona Naess was fantastic. She was completely drunk and still nailing all her notes. Impressive voice. Then Liz Phair came on and we left. Her act has always been 10% music and 90% sex. Unfortunately, she's getting old and her music is tired. She was wearing a clip on mic, and her band was a murder [krows] of hasbeens from whoknowswheres.
I just downloaded Modest Mouse - Moon and Antarctica, highly recommended by Dan Nieman. This stuff is fantastic! Thanks Dan.
Tentative New Years plans: riding around in a 24 person Excursion Limo. What has become of us?
10:01 PM
Monday, December 15, 2003
away all weekend
I left for work Friday morning and didn't get back home until Sunday [Monday] after midnight. By then, my sneakers were completely soaked due to the rain/slush mix. But, cold feet didn't really bother me because I had such a great weekend.
On Friday night I went to a company dinner for Jackie's school. It was interesting to finally meet all these people Jackie's has talked about. After dinner we went to a bar in the West Village called Tindersticks. I guess it was some kind of Irish pub, because some Irishman was giving me shit about wearing a pink tie. I told him he was Colorist. Unfortunately, a couple of Jackie's friends had a bit much to drink. Jackie and I loaded them into a cab and made sure they got home safely.
One guy at Jackie's school is seriously disliked by EVERYONE else. When we got to Tindersticks it became a no-holds-barred gripe session about how awful this guy is. Of course, he eventually showed up, and all of a sudden there was nothing left to talk about. This guy and his girlfriend actually lived in the same building as one of the girls who was sick, but they refused to help her get home. The excuse - the guy has friends from Atlanta in town that night. What friends?? It was after 2am and I didn't see any Atlanta friends. Total Lie. So, after hearing all these negative things and then hearing the guy lie on my first conversation with him, I wasn't a big fan myself. I complained to him that he was being a bit of a jerk, and we had the following conversation. For our purposes, we'll call him E.
C: I don't understand how you can live in the same building as someone and not help take her home when she's sick. I'm happy to help her get home, but you already know how to get there, how to get her to the right apartment.
E: Did you ever see the movie Friday?
C: Uh, yeah.
E: Do you remember what Smokey's license plate said?
C: No, what did it say?
E: It said, "Fuck it." And that's what you need to do, man. Just say, "Fuck it" and help this girl get home.
C: Oh, now I remember that part of the movie. Oh wait, do you remember the part about the dad?
E: Yeah, he was hilarious!
C: Do you remember the part about how he was totally incompetent at his job and all of his coworkers hated him?
E: Yeah, that was awesome.
Some people just have a way of inserting their foot into their mouth. There was no part in Friday about the dad's coworkers hating him. I was refering to E himself. What a tool.
We got Jackie's friends home safely. Then we went home and crashed. Saturday I woke up early and went to the Big Brother Big Sister of New York office for an interview. The social worker had an extensive interview form to fill out. She asked me questions about EVERYTHING - family history, employment history, education, friends, relationships, experiences with diversity, biases, substance use history, sex history, knowledge of AIDS... I think this social worker knows more about me than most of my friends! I should hear in within a month if I've been accepted. I'm hopeful and confident - can't wait to start giving Nuggies to my new lil' bro!
After the interrogation I went to DUMBO for a full day of recording with Joe and Ed. We completely rearranged the practice space to make a sound barrier out of a couch flipped on its side and metal shelves with carpet draped over. I spent a good hour trying to tune my kit, and Joe had to run around adjusting mic's and figuring out his recording gear. All in all the drum sound turned out solid. After the drum recording we packed up all the gear and headed over to Joe's office - also in DUMBO. We recorded bass and guitar tracks while munching on Grimaldi's pizza. That pie is so good! The guitar and bass sound good, and we'll be recording vocals sometime this week.
Saturday night Jackie and I went to a TFA coworker's party at her apartment on 83rd street. It was a fun party with great food and not enough liquor. Well, I guess there WAS enough liquor considering that the super called the police and one of the partygoers (not from work) broke the front door of the building. Otherwise, it was cool.
Sunday Jackie and I lounged around all day because the weather was annoying. We avoided the rain+snow=slush be watching old episodes of 24 that we had not yet watched. That evening I picked up Salty, Emily, Lightshow and a friend of Emily's at Columbia and we drove down to the Bowery Ballroom to see Ted Leo and the Pharmacists. This was my second time seeing Ted Leo perform, and omg he is amazing. I had a great time, as did most everyone around me at the show. People were either dancing wildly or staring with their mouths agape. It would have been perfect, except I didn't get home until 1am and waking up this morning was a terrible process.
This week: more recording, tons of real work because my boss is in town, TFA holiday parties, free Liz Phair show tonight w/ free beer, Lord of the Rings on Tuesday night, and in general these days - no sleep.
10:24 AM
Friday, December 12, 2003
best behavior
I'm heading uptown this evening for an after-work party for teachers at Jackie's school. This is my first time meeting all these coworkers I hear so much about. I want to make a good impression so people don't think Jackie is dating some bum. Unfortunately, I'm having a bad hair day. I tried to make up for it by wearing a tie. A pink tie. We'll see.
Today I walked out to park my car for alternate side, and there was a green scrape on the side. Right behind my car was a green dumpster on wheels. The garbage men were a little careless last night. There are going to get an unpleasant call from me.
Tomorrow I have an interview for Big Brothers Big Sisters of NYC. I can't wait!
Then, after the meeting I'm going to Dumbo for a full day of recording.
That's what's going on.
1:44 PM
Thursday, December 11, 2003
study break!
I love that I don't have to study anymore but I still get to go to study breaks. Tonight I will be attending a Teach For America Study Break up at Columbia in the Hogan/Broadway First Floor lounge. I'll be hanging out, passing out brochures, and answering questions about the organization as well as talking about my experiences as a teacher in the South Bronx.
I know some of you Columbia folks read my blog every once in a while, so please stop by the Hogan/Broadway lounge tonight between 8:30-9:30pm. If you are an Uptown Local freshman, you should come by and meet this mythical figure you've probably heard so much about! (Haha, I wish, now I'm just an old man.) Please remember, however, that people who do not know me think I am somewhat of a respectable person for doing TFA, so please don't come by and start bringing up any of those stories some of you love to tell.
"And then one time, after doing donuts in the parking lot coming home from that rave in Atlanta..."
"And then one time, after that beer run, we decided to go swimming at HoJos..."
"And then one time, the night before Barnard girls moved in we went up on the roof of Sulzburger..."
I'll stop now.
We're back on top, baby!
12:41 PM
Wednesday, December 10, 2003
Six Reasons
Some of you have read entries on this blog where I trash the major labels of the music industry. Our friends at Downhillbattle.org have published a brief synopsis of why it is so important to boycott major label releases. Check out Six Reasons and let me know what you think. I know boycotting music sounds like a radical idea, but I'm starting to believe in the movement these guys are starting. ARoss's friend Will and I are going to help out with the sticker campaign sometime next week. I just received a batch of stickers in the mail from Nick. One has already found a home on my skateboard. The other hundred or so will be finding their new homes on the shrinkwrap of Big 5 CDs in franchise music stores in NYC.
In other news, Hellonurserock.com is up and running. Thanks to Joe for making us look so pretty! We began doing some rough recording last night and will continue all weekend. Look for some new tracks to be released after the New Year.
8:38 AM
Tuesday, December 09, 2003
what I learned while borrowing a projector:
I learned one thing for sure: I want a projector! Haha, those things are expensive for a reason - they are some awesome. I borrowed a projector from a kind soul on the 4th floor of my building on Friday evening. He lent us the projector, cables, and a nice fold-out projection screen. Over the weekend we put it to use: we watched Finding Nemo, Bruce Almighty, Uncovered: The Truth About the Iraq War, and I showed Eric Lane's film Fists of the Saugatuck about 7 times to groups of people who would stop by for Open Studios.
Friday night Jackie and I saw Elf which is an instant classic, soon to be overplayed on TNT and TBS for the next 15 years. We then went to a bar near Jackie's apartment where we each had a glass of wine and a DYNAMITE martini that floored us. Saturday morning I woke up groggy and stomped through the snow to the subway and back to my place.
Saturday morning, my place was a disaster. I had tons of cleaning to do, not to mention setting up the projector, creating a CD cover for Hello Nurse discs, and printing the covers to Kinkos. Eric came by around 1pm. Alex Chung called. Apparently it snowed in his neighborhood over the weekend (did it snow anywhere else?), and he wasn't able to make it up to my place with his film. Also, on Sunday he went to a Giants game that had completely forgotten about. Sorry Alex - sorry for spending my week hunting down a projector and for busting my ass working on your film this summer. I apologize that I couldn't be there to shovel you out and hold your hand as you walked to the subway.
Ok, enough of that rant. It was great having Eric around on Saturday. We ate lunch at Life Cafe and then dug out my minivan for a trip to Dumbo. I was going there to pick up band equipment for the Hello Nurse show, and Eric came along in case the van got stuck and we had to push our way out. No such troubles.
Hello Nurse played a show that night at a loft across the street from mine. It was a great party! About 6 bands played, and our set was split in thirds thanks to a broken PA system and a fashion show. The fashion show was hot - it involved electical-tape nipple pasties and lots of vinyl. Hello Nurse rocked out, and Nathaniel's energy was right on. Thanks to Jess, Lightshow, Vanessa, Brad, and of course Jackie & Molly for coming out. Some dorkus at the party was trying to charge people $3 for cans of Coors light. I rocked the Olde English. I set my empty bottle in the troff of beer cans, and he ran up like I was trying to take his beer. Kid needed to loosen up a bit.
Anyway, after the show we had to leave our equipment there because other bands were borrowing my drumset and PA system, which we had to haul over from my place mid-set when the house PA died. We came back to my place, watched Bruce Almighty, and ordered delivery.
Around 3:30 in the morning Ed and I went over to the party to break up the 7th Level of Hell band of jammers that had accumulated on our instruments. They sounded absolutely awful - we had no qualms about shutting the party down. Unfortunately, the elevator in the building wasn't working. Ed and I had to carry down my drumset (all drums, hardware, and cymbals), Ed's guitar amp, and the PA system. It was a crummy job to do at 4am when you're absolutely wasted, tired, and cold. Thank goodness the freight in my building was working. We were spared from extenuated agony.
Sunday I continued showing Eric's film all day, and then I had to get the loft ready for the screening of Uncovered. A few accupuncture students from New Jersey showed up 45 minutes early, so I let them hang out while I ran to the bodega to get drinks & munchies. You can read about the screening in my previous blog entry. I think it was a success, especially considering the weather.
After the screening Jackie and I watched Finding Nemo, and by then it was just way too late. Last night we were up late again trying to make online Christmas cards for family & friends. Can I get some sleep? Please? No way! Band practice tonight.
And in my continuing awe and love of craigslist: I found a running partner today on the Activity Partners section. Hopefully this will get me off my butt and on the blacktop [icetop]. In even better news!!!! - I found someone on Missed Connections who knows Chris Campos. I have been looking for him for years! Will I finally get my tent back??? Stay tuned as the saga continues.
And now it is time to feel ashamed for laughing. (Wear headphones if you're at work.)
11:12 AM
Sunday, December 07, 2003
A weekend of LIVING!
There's so much to be said of what went on this weekend. I really do feel very alive, despite the fact that I am extremely exhausted. I will write more about Open Studios, the Hello Nurse loft party, the Uncovered screening, and how Alex Chung can kiss my butt another time in the near future.
For now, I urge you to check out the following link:
http://action.moveon.org/uncoveredusa/index_flash.html I can't believe how many screening parties took place across the country. Go to the New York City area. The pictures from my party are labeled E. Williamsburg Loft Screening of Uncovered. There are 4 pictures.
Here is the write-up of a survey I just finished for MoveOn.org.
Approximately how many people were at this party?
15
In a couple of sentences, can you describe your event?
Despite a snowy nor'easter weekend, 15 brave souls found their way to a converted industrial loft in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn for a screening of Uncovered. We enjoyed drinks and pizza beforehand, and watched the film using an LCD projector and a PA system for sound.
What was the best moment?
The best moment of our House Party was when we took a moment before the film for individuals to introduce themselves. Attendees included acupuncture students from New Jersey, an artist from Philadelphia, a rickshaw driver from the Upper West Side, a start-up mapmaker from BedStuy, a graduate student from Columbia University, computer programmers from the East Village and Queens, a teacher for children with autism, an education non-profit worker, and a mother from Memphis with her daughter from Brooklyn. The party planner also passed out bumper stickers that say, "I can't trust our President: Soc. Security-Taxes-Medicare."
If we do this again, what should we change about the party process?
It would be great if you could find a magical meteorologist to help avoid scheduling parties the weekend of a blizzard!
Should we hold another round of house parties?
Yes.
If yes, why do you think we should?
These parties are a great way for strangers with similar political views to meet in a low-key, social setting. Informal gatherings like these are the first step in turning political thinkers into political activists. Furthermore, these house parties enable grassroots networking - a few people at our party tonight were able to recruit others to help with local political action campaigns. I would be more than happy to host another house party at my loft.
9:45 PM
Friday, December 05, 2003
Open Studios Schedule for Saturday & Sunday
Short Films by Eric Lane and Alex Chung
Saturday @ 3pm, 4pm, 5pm
Sunday @ 2pm, 3:30pm, 5pm
Fists of the Saugatuck
written and directed by by Eric Lane
"David Scher graduated high school a semester early. It was the greatest accomplishment of his life. Seven years have passed. His parents still want him to get a job. David would rather take the road less traveled by, which leads, of course, to an elite martial arts training facility in Ojai, California."
11mins.
The Test
written and directed by Alex Chung
248 McKibbin Street, apt. 3M (use middle stairwell of building)
Hello Nurse
Open Studios Afterparty - 6 bands, keg, drunk artists loft party
Starts around 7pm, Hello Nurse @10pm
265 McKibbin St, apt. 306 (3rd floor)
Uncovered: The Truth About the Iraq War
Party: 7pm, Screening: 8pm
33 participants registered. Please bring a portable chair if possible. I will have some drinks provided, otherwise you are welcome to BYOB.
248 McKibbin St, apt. 3M (please go to buzzer at middle of building)
Please visit fifthstop.info for directions and descriptions of other art showcases taking place during the Open Studios weekend.
I hope to see some friends at each of these events. Spread the word and bring your friends! Open Studios will be going on from noon-6pm Saturday & Sunday. Please stop by and show your support for local artists.
12:06 PM
Thursday, December 04, 2003
AWOL - not just a catchy Beastie Boys rhyme
Another alarming uncorroborated issue about Bush I had not known: he went AWOL.
Check out www.awolbush.com
I just read that he didn't show up because the base he was assigned to didn't have the type of plane he flew. I'm curious to find out the truth - whether he actually went AWOL and the press has avoided this topic of if this is just muckraking.
This jackass pisses me off more everyday. Wouldn't it be great to have a leader that we could actually be proud of? "Gee, did you hear what President Palmer did today? Yeah, it's about time we started moving in the right direction!"
12:59 PM
Wednesday, December 03, 2003
I love nice people, like Jeff in 4H.
I have been looking all over the place for a projector. I searched craigslist and lootusa a few times a day. I've called most of the A/V rental places [ripoffs] in the city. I found people who are selling their projectors on craigslist and asked [begged] them to let us rent for cheap if they haven't sold by Friday. The lowest quote I could find is $150 for the weekend or $125 + $1000deposit [ridic]. Finally, when I thought all hopes were lost [desperate], I put up flyers on my buidling asking if any kind soul had a projector for us to borrow. And thanks to the love that surrounds McKibbin Street [not just litter], Jeff in 4H has agreed to let us use his projector & projection screen all weekend!
That really made my day. Of course, if anything happens to his projector I think he gets to slaughter me and keep the credit cards [debt].
Bill Bert came over tonight. We were waiting for someone from Craigslist to call us about a laptop she is selling for $20. It's an old crappy mac that doesn't even have a modem or ethernet card. It's also covered in stickers. Anyway, we're going to use it to make a graphics-software art installation. Bill is going to write a program that draws art on the screen. I am going to take apart the screen and mount the thing in some cool artistic way. Digital wall art! It's an idea we saw at a Dorkbot meeting and want to copy.
Unfortunately, the girl never called. We cooked quesadillas, and then we hopped in the van for some Deep Brooklyn Exploration. We followed the L train to Broadway Junction, then followed the AC back to downtown Brooklyn, and then took Bedford back to the L train to drop Bill off at the station. It was a pretty cool ride - everything from seriously rough neighborhoods, quaint brownstones, to a Hassidic Jewish neighborhood.
Now I have to read this dull book called Good To Great [boring to boringest]- a business book about how some corporations become enormously successful while others remain mediocre. We're having a book discussion about organization development at work on Friday. I guess I should read some of it - they did give me the book for free [raising my salary to a whopping $20,014.99]. Unfortunately the book is very dry and academic [w/o the college girls].
33 people are signed up for Uncovered. It's going to be a great time - especially since we now have a projector!
8:07 PM
I couldn't resist posting this.
The one fun thing about work - you get EVERY email forward sent to ANYONE at work.
11:02 AM
Tuesday, December 02, 2003
Google: miserable failure
Googe search "miserable failure" and check out the first link. Hilarious.
First of all, I'd like to give a huge thanks to Amy who signed up for the Uncovered screening and offered to bring her projector. Thanks Amy! So far 21 people have signed up. I put the cap at around 24 or 25, so be sure to sign up if you think you might come. Of course, I'm sure many people will forget to show up, so if you decide on Sunday afternoon that you want to come there will be room for you.
We still need a projector for the short films on Saturday & Sunday, so keep spreading the word and asking around.
I registered hellonurserock.com last night. It isn't up and running yet, so I didn't bother linking it. I'll be sure to let you all know when we have it up. In performance news, Hello Nurse will be playing in loft #306 at 265 McKibbin Street this Saturday night. We'll probably go on around 9:30, but that's up in the air at the moment. There will be a keg and a number of bands, so put on your party shoes and come on over! You will hear 2 new songs from Hello Nurse, and we're not going to play soft. Get yourself some earplugs and be kind to your eardrums, because I certainly won't be kind to my drums.
Some people shopped the day after Thanksgiving. I did, and I got a pair of Tiimberland boots for $35! Finally, no more harsh & slushy winters spent in soggy sneakers. The guys at Downhillbattle.org did not shop, however. Instead, they woke up early for a delightful day of guerilla protest. Click here to check out their exploits. I love how they bought a digital camera at Wallmart, put stickers on all the CDs, took pictures of what they were doing, saved the pictures, then returned the camera at the end of the day. Nick and Holmes, you guys rock.
R.I.P. MP3.com. [sniffle, tear, wipes eyes]
11:57 AM
Monday, December 01, 2003
Projector Needed!
This weekend's festivities are entirely dependent on having a projector, but I have no idea where to rent one. I've looked up some prices online, but they are very high because they are commercial rentals. Companies can expense this stuff, but C-Sparls is working on a very tight budget. If anyone has any friends who might have an LCD projector, please ask them if I can rent it for the weekend. Also, an LCD Projector Panel would work. These are the old lcd panels placed on top of overhead projectors. I have an overhead, so a panel would work, too. If you work at a place that uses projectors, see if they have any LCD panels from the old days. I don't have too much in the way of $$, but watching films on my tiny TV would just be pathetic.
Also, A-Ross burned me a rough copy of his album Quit Your Day Job last night. So good.
Projectors, anyone??
8:13 AM
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