words i know i'll forget someday

tiger pillow

happy halloween!!!!!!!

Homicide: Life on the Streets

all apologies to the wire and sopranos, my all-time favorite show

out of the mouths ...

my 3-yr old on hearing jazz in music class today. "this music is broken, we need to fix it"

movin on

startin preschool next week. and thankin "rats" for a great run as his main man. their theme song. long live RATS!

johnny fuckin bravo (aka "hey white boy, what you doin uptown?")

bout a year ago i was asked by a musician friend if i'd be interested doing a "rock" vocal for a rap group. i'm game for pretty much anything in a recording studio, so ... fuck that, I WAS THRILLED. he knew the guys through a co-worker and let em know i was up for it. they called me and we talked for a few minutes. it wasn't unlike dozens of music experiences i'd had along the way with musicians from different genres ... like a giraffe sharing sex tips with a toaster. no common ground. once an indie rock band i played in was mistakenly booked into a metal bar in rochester. as we played, the people looked at us as if we played some mysterious music from a version of saturn that sucked really bad (i never got it, 'hey kemosabe, me have 2 gtr bass drums, you have 2 gtr bass drums, we play same notes') ... another time, another band played in front of a huge crowd at the legendary shitkicker bar hammerjacks in baltimore. i was the laughing stock of the sound crew as i didn't have a 50-foot guitar cord to reach from my amp all the way to the mike on the massive stage ("ain't you got a wireless set up"?), and of course they refused to lend me one ... admitting to my one-time landlord who played in a dead cover band that i didn't like the dead ... incredulous. this was different though, i'm a pretty big rap fan (metal for example is fun as hell to listen to once every 6 months ... much like looney tunes cartoons). doin a rap session ... on par with going to yanks fantasy camp.

they asked me to come down to their studio and work on it. i explained i had my own studio and would prefer to work out my parts beforehand. they were instantly dubious, not wanting any of their work winding up in another's hands (a recurring theme throughout the process). they finally relented somewhat, after i reminded them they might not even like what I had to offer. i was provided with a sketch of the chorus, and about 16 seconds of beats. i'm not gonna lie, i dove in full force, even though i always knew i was gonna give em what i "thought" rock vocals in rap songs sounded like. i'm a pretty fast worker in the studio (well, i get bored easy), so i was done in about an hour, and i emailed the file. about 10 minutes later, the phone rings. i didn't want to hear it live, so i let it go to voice mail. i still have the damn message. they were apeshit over it. i called em back, & all the sudden the connection was made. i was in, and honestly, i was ecstatic. i didn't think what I'd done was all that, but fuckit, we were talkin like actual human beings and plans were made to do the actual recording.

i arrived at a basement studio in east brooklyn around 7pm. i remember passing a bodega and considering grabbing some water, but didn't. standing at the door, i realized i had NO IDEA who these cats were. for all i knew, they were somebody/nobody/allen funt (er ashton k.). the main dude met me at the door and was pretty awesome. excited i made it. i took that love into the studio where i was met with blank stares. gear small talk went nowhere with the crew, so i stayed on the main dude. we hit it off. he asked if he could be in the vocal booth with me. i said sure.

figuring my AMAZING demo could be replicated in about 3 minutes i set out to shred the place. all out i went. suddenly, the tape (well, computer) stopped. "let's try it again". this was the beginning of a 3-hour journey to the pit of my throat. they didn't want my demo per se, they wanted it EXACTLY. i don't know how many of you are into the "art" of recording (sniff), but there's a thing about that first achievement that's rarely ever equalled. it could be wrapped in tape hiss, hittin a missed note and havin the tv on behind you, but it captures the essence. i'm not saying this was a masterpiece by any means, but i felt a decent cover version of it would suffice. my mistake. as i stumbled further down the trail of incompetence, they felt a lesson in rhythm was also in order. BOOT CAMP ... for the next hour i was face to face with the main dude havin him lap me w/ my part. he couldn't sing, but he could groove his ass off. me, i was the whitest man alive & gettin paler by the minute.

recording again, i was lost. over and over and over. somehow, they were finally happy with one take. i was overjoyed, i was that kenyan dude at the end of the marathon, and thirsty as all hell. asked for some water. i was offered the entrails of a sports drink ("it's got electrolites and shit") and a joint. i figured i was done anyway and nodded nah. "alright, let's do another one" came from the control booth. i figured they wanted a safety track and gave em one. i was wrong, i had to do about another 12, all EXACTLY the same ... and that was for the first part of two. at the end of three hours, with barely a lick of spit in my mouth, i finally got back into the booth. dead to rights. main dude was his generous self, promising to have me sing at their shows and reap the benefits ... other dudes ... staring. i got outta there (without a recording, of course) ... and i still had no idea who they were.

all in all, one of my fave experiences. during BOOT CAMP, main dude shared some of the rhymes, and i was pretty impressed. to end this, i received a copy in the mail today. i sound weird (all 12 of me), they sound cool, and i am praying to god my wife has to hear this from all her kids ipods daily at work! me walking through her school doors kenny powers style!!!!! ... and i still have no idea who they are.

here's the tune (no idea if it's been released):

demo - demo

artland

mama g had an idea for an art center in the living room, i was a little apprehensive, cuz i wasn't sure if i wanted the living room to be a kid playroom, but then i looked around at the 5 billion toys and realized that ship sailed a year ago. with that, i dove in.

a trip to home depot and michael's art's & crafts was all it took. well, that, and putting it together. we knew we wanted to incorporate a blackboard, and this paint pretty much rules.


we wanted a cork section to post his latest masterpieces and this is what we used. available at any art store.



problem occurred when i tried to use the double sided tape it came with. worthless. the panels fell off overnight. i ended up using an ace in the hole, liquid nails, which i used time after time when renovating our house. be careful with it, getting that stuff on yr hands is a bitch to get off.



i had some leftover moulding to frame the project, but we still needed a magnetic board to finish. i priced some boards, but they all were about $20 and wouldn't fit with the scheme anyway. walking around home depot with a magnet, i found some flashing which fit the bill to a tee (for $15 with tons left over).



cutting the stuff is dicey, watch yourself. my metal cutter was "somewhere" in the basement, so i used some garden shears. it leads to sharp edges, but i knew the moulding would cover it up. no harm.

with all that, under $100. about a 4 hour project. voila: