sanpeeps

everyone's in a band!

2006-12-30T20:18:00.000-06:00

i started this list a long time ago of all the music i have seen live.

it's by no means complete.

i will add to it as the blurry nights and memories and new experiences come to light i suppose..

Jennifer Markey

Romanian Thunder

Brandon Sutton

Bethany Larson

Fit To Burn

Anthony Newes
12 Rods
24-7 Spyz
A Tribe Called Quest
AC/DC
Accident Clearinghouse
Aceyalone
Adam Green
Adjustable Boy
Aesop Rock
Afro Cuban All Stars
Air
Akron Family
Al Green!!!
Alanis Morrisette
Alarmists
Alice Cooper
All
Allen Toussaint
Aluminum Group
Andrew Bird
Ani Difranco
Anthrax(first show ever at First Avenue, ’85)
Antibalas
Antony and the Johnsons
Architecture in Helsinki
Arcwelder
Ashtray Hearts
Atari Teenage Riot
Atmosphere
Baba Maal
Babes in Toyland
Bad Brains
Bad Plus
Balloon Guy
Barkmarket
Basehead
Beastie Boys
Beck
Beira Mar Brasil
Belle and Sebastian
Belly
Ben Harper
Beta Band
Beth Gibbons
Beth Orton
Big Ditch Road
Big Star
Bill Mike
Billy Bragg
Billy Joel
Birds of Avalon
Birthday Suits
Biz Markie
Bjork
Black Uhuru
Blind Approach
Blondie
Blue Man Group
Blue Up?
Blues Traveller
Blur
Bo Diddley
Bob Dylan
Bob Mould
Boiled in Lead
Bonnie Prince Billy
Boris
Brass Kings
Bright Eyes
Broadcast
Broken Social Scene
Brokerdealer
Building Better Bombs
Built to Spill
Burning Spear
Butterglory
Butthole Surfers
Cake
Calexico
Califone
Camera Obscura
Camper Van Beethoven
Cardigans
Cardinal Sin
Carpet People
Casino Royale
Celtic Frost
Cesaria Evora
Chan Poling
Cheap Trick
Cherry Valence
Chesterfield Kings
Chooglin’
Cibo Matto
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!
Cloudberry Jam
Cockfight
Coctails
Coldplay
Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent
Colonel Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit
Comets on Fire
Cornershop
Cub
Cult
Culture
Curtiss A
D.RU.M.P.A.C.
Damien Rice
Dandy Warhols
Danielo Perez
Dave Holland Big Band
David Bowie
Day Behaviour
De La Soul
Dead C
Death Cab for Cutie
Delilahs
Descendents
Desdamona
Devendra Banhart
Devotchka
Dido
Die Electric
Digable Planets
DJ Shadow
Donovan
Dosh
Doughboys
Dr. Kosmos
Dresden Dolls
Dressy Bessy
Dub Narcotic Sound System
Dylan Hicks
Elf Power
Elliot Smith
Elvin Jones
Elvis Costello
Espers
Esthero
Etta James
Ex-Centric Sound System
Exodus
Fastball
Fat Kid Wednesdays
Faux Jean
Femi Kuti
Fiona Apple
Firehose
First Communion After Party
Flaming Lips
Flink
Floorshakers
Flops
Florida
Fog
Franz Ferdinand
Frog Eyes
Ganglion
Garmarna
Gear Daddies
Gee as in Jesus
Ghostface Killah
Gin Blossoms
Glenrustles
Gnarls Barkley
God’s Favorite Band
Godspeed You! Black Emporer
Golden Smog
Gomez
Gonzalo Rubacalbo
Goo Goo Dolls
Gore Gore Girls
Green Milk from the Planet Orange
Grizzly Bear
Grupo Fantasma
Guided by Voices
Guster
Guzzard
Haley Bonar
Halloween, Alaska
Hammerhead
Hank III
Happy Apple
Har Mar Superstar
Helium
His Name is Alive
Holiday
Honeybunch
Honeydogs
Hope Sandoval
Hopefuls
Huggy Bear
Husker Du
Ice Cube
Ice-T
Iffy
Impaler
Indigo Girls
Interpol
Iron Maiden(first big arena show in 8th grade)
Ivy
Jamie Ness
Jane’s Addiction
Jason Collett
Jayhawks
Jeff Tweedy
Joan Jett
Joanna James
Joe Satriani
Joe Strummer
John Ewing
John Spencer Blues Explosion
John Zorn’s Electric Masada
John’s Black Dirt
Johnny Griffin
Jonathan Richman
Joseph Arthur
Josh Rouse
Joshua Redman
Juliana Hatfield
June Sunday
Junior Brown
Jurassic Five
Kaia
Karen Paurus
Katastrophe Wife
Kent
Kicking Giant
Kid Dakota
King Can
Kinnie Starr
Kiss
Komeda
Lagbaja
Laika
Lee Perry
Lefty Lucy
Legendary Jim Ruiz Group
Lemonheads
Leslie Ball
Lifter Puller
Like Hell
Living Colour
Liz Phair
LL Cool J
Lloyd Charles
Los Amigos Invisibles
Los Straightjackets
Lovecars
Low
Lucinda Williams
Luna
Lush
Madder Rose
Magnetic Fields
Magnolia Electric Company
Make-Up
Man or Astroman?
Mark Eitzel
Mark Mallman
Martin Devaney
Mary Lou Lord
Mason Jennings
Matisyahu
Matt Nathanson
Matt Pond PA
Max Roach
Mccoy Tyner
Medeski Martin and Wood
Megadeth
Melvins
Metallica
Metric
Midnight Evils
Mike Brady
Mike Doughty
Mike Gunther
Mila Vocal Ensemble
Moby
Modest Mouse
Mooney Suzuki
Moonshake
Morrissey
Motorhead
Mountain Singers
Mouse on Mars
Mr. Big
Mr. Lif
Muskellunge
My Morning jacket
Ned’s Atomic Dustbin
Neil Young
Neko Case
Neutral Milk Hotel
Neville Brothers
New Pornographers
New York Dolls
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Norah Jones
Nova mob
Nuclear Assault
Number One Cup
Oasis
Ok Go
Old 97’s
Old Crow Medicine Show
Olivia Tremor Control
Orchestra Baobab
Original Harmony Ridge Creek Dippers
Ornette Coleman
Ousia
Ozomatli
P!nk
P.O.S.
Papas Fritas
Pastels
Patricia Barber
Paul Stanley
Paul Westerberg
Pavement
Peaches
Pearl Jam
Pedro the Lion
Peeping Tom
Phish
Phull Syrkle
Pinko Pinko
Pixies
PJ Harvey
Placebo
Plastic Constellations
Polara
Polvo
Portastatic
Primus
Prince
Process Blue
Pro-Cussions
Psuedonymphs
Psychedelic furs
Public Enemy
Quasi
Queensryche
R.E.M.
Rachel’s
Raging Slab
Rank Strangers
Ravi and Anoushka Shankar
Ray Charles
Ray Davies
Ray Wonder
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Red Meat
Replacements
Reverend Horton Heat
Rex Daisy
Rhett Miller
Rifle Sport
Robert Pollard
Robyn Hitchcock
Romantics
Roots
Roy Haynes
Roy Montgomery
Run DMC
Run Westy Run
Rush
Sage Francis
Saint Ettiene
Satisfact
Saucer
Savage Aural Hotbed
Sea and Cake
Sean Na Na
Sebadoh
Secret Machines
Selby Tigers
Semisonic
Shonen Knife
Shudder to Think
Sights
Signal to Trust
Sigur Ros
Silly Pillows
Sinead O’Connor
Six Six Crush
Skirt
Sleater Kinney
Smashing Pumpkins
Smattering
Smithereens
Smog
Son Volt
Sonic Youth
Sonny Rollins
Soul Asylum
Soul Reaction
Soulive
Soundgarden
Soundtrack of our Lives
Southern Culture on the Skids
Soviettes
Spare Snare
Spider Fighter
Spider John Koerner
Spoon
Sportsguitar
Stereolab
Steve Lacy
Sting
Style Monkeez
Sugar
Sugar Minott
Sugar Plant
Sukpatch
SUNNO)))
Superchunk
Supernova
Supsersuckers
Taj Mahal
Talib Kweli
Tapes and Tapes
Ted Nugent
Teenage Fanclub
Terrence Blanchard
The Autumn Leaves
the Charms
The Clinic
The Commitments
The Dambuilders
The Double
The Faint
The Frumpies
the Future
The Gleam
The Go-Gos
The Hang Ups
The Hold Steady
The Makers
The Melvins
The Rainmakers
The Raveonettes
The Spinanes
The Verve
The Vibrochamps
The Wahinis
The Wailers
The Who
The Winter Blanket
The Zombies
Thee Headcoats
They Might Be Giants
Thunder in the Valley
Tin Star Sisters
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Waits
Toots and the Maytals
Tortoise
Tower of Power
Town and Country
Tracy Chapman
Trans Am
Travis
Trip Shakespeare
True Love Always
Tsunami
TV on the Radio
TVBC
Umbrella Bed
Uncle Tupelo
Unrest
Urban Dance Squad
Vampire Hands
Vasen
Verbena
Vic Chestnutt
Victoria Williams
Violent femmes
Walker Kong
Waysted
Wedding present
Weird Al Yankovic(first show in 4th grade)
Whale
White Light Riot
White Stripes
Wilco
Will Oldham
Willard Grant Conspiracy
Willie Nelson
Woggles
Wolf Eyes
Wolf Parade
Yat-Kha
Yawo
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Yellowman
Yo La Tengo
Zap Mama
Zip Caplan and the Surf Dawgs
Zwan

free beer!

2006-05-07T14:52:00.000-05:00

man. i just have been writing about the "incident" that happened to me last weekend.

if i haven't seen you since then or if you didn't hear i got beat up in my neighborhood last Friday and all they took from me was the case of beer i was walking home from Hum's with. not my wallet, phone or spendy digital camera that was in my bag. they gave me a good ol' fashioned beat down for a case of Budweiser! dicks!

i just wrote a big long thing since i been getting a lot of questions and support about it. but instead i'm saying fuck it. there's no need.

the reality is i biked around the neighborhood yesterday and went to "the spot" that it happened, 22nd and Harriet.

i thought i'd get some sort of flashbacks or "negative energies" or some such. sure i am a lot more cautitious walking around and a little nervous anytime i see a Somli teenager walking around in a hooded jacket. but the truth is the neighborhood is all smiles.

all i could see and feel were all the lilacs springing up everywhere. my cat fell off my porch i think from just thier strong scent. purple haze indeed!

anyone's welcome to bask in their glow. they don't last long and i am going to be moving the end of the month anyway. so come over! on our porch the beer is always free!

he really got me!

2006-04-06T15:32:00.000-05:00

photographed by my friend, Steve Cohen

3 year anniversary of Iraq Invasion protest in Uptown, Minneapolis

2006-03-18T18:14:00.000-06:00

4000 people marched along Hennepin Ave and up to the Basillica where the bells were ringing..

2006-03-10T11:31:00.000-06:00

my man, Kirby.

2006-03-07T01:52:00.000-06:00

man. Kirby Puckett, gone. really gone.

i guess Kirby was kinda like the Elvis of baseball in a way, no?

i have no idea what he was into since he retired. i knew and i guess tried to ignore all the stuff about wife beating and harrassing chicks in bars.

whatever. if i loved baseball and was as good at as he and got beamed in the eye and had to retire prematurely because of it i probably would do worse..

i loved the Twins back in the day. i saw both the '87 and '91 victories with my Dad and brothers. hundreds of games with friends. my cousin was a batboy for them in the 80's and knew him well.
he kicked so much ass hitting and fielding you really felt you were getting a show whenever you watched him and the team.

plus how cool was it that he never left town even though he got barrels of offers?!
i remember patting him on the head during the '87 victory parade downtown. i was in 8th grade and we got out of class for it.

there was miles of confetti everywhere. all the players wore fur coats because Ribnick flipped the bill.

Kirby was wearing one of those red baron type leather hats. he was all smiles and loving it!
i have nothing but awesome memories of that lil dude!

Marker Park.

2006-03-02T15:02:00.000-06:00

good god i can't wait for spring! it is starting to warm up. like warm enough that you don't have to wear mittens kinda weather. but no point in bitching about it i suppose.

my friend's Jay and Dacia just moved to New Zealand a couple of weeks ago.

Jay and i had a monthly deejay night at the King and I that has been a lot of fun the last couple of years. it was always a chill affair, spinning tunes and enjoying fine thai cuisine. we also had some great late night bike excursions around the city. another reason i am wanting spring, to get back on my bike.

i am not like those crazy Minneapolitans you see biking around all winter in sub-zero weather. but part of cruising the streets and alleys was our love for the graffiti around these parts. Jay started a blog, Marker Park, where we will post some of our favorite artists. particularily the "pringles guy" that has been blowing up awesome pieces around here the last couple years now.

buy my stuff!!

2006-02-04T17:17:00.000-06:00

2006-01-10T13:21:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year!!

2006-01-01T21:02:00.000-06:00

it's been a while since i have posted on here.

i guess i been living more an analog existence. that is actually my new year's resolution. well at least to hand write more letters. i am also planning an "Analog Week" of shows and parties and fun analog activities in February.

lately i have been having late night VHS movie marathons with my roommates. Brian has a great collection of shit he recorded back in the day.

there was an amazing Gun and Roses concert from MTV from 1987. i hadn't seen it in forever and it reminded why i really liked them then. some Huskers stuff, tons of 'Mats videos. various R.E.M., Hendrix and a solo Robert Plant concert from the "mullet" era.

2005 was a crap year for a lot of people. the world as a whole had a crap 2005.

but for me and my family it's been amazing. i am super busy and doing cool shit that i like to do.

for me personally there were ups and downs. but in the end i brought in the new year pretty chill. dancing to 80's music with my Grumpy's friends. Joel played great tunes all night!

today i slept in and went out to the folks to hang with my brothers, sister in law, parents and nephew.

have your ass home by 11:00.

2005-12-10T15:57:00.000-06:00

Sinead.

2005-11-29T14:15:00.000-06:00

really dug the Sinead O'Connor show last night.

i love her voice and i love Sly and Robbie, so the combination of the two was fantastic. the band was dynamite really!

i had a rough day Sunday so needed the pick me up. i suppose the show was all sorts of things for me then. there was a definite spiritual energy in the room as she pretty much stuck to all the reggae tunes she did on her new record. most of which are rastafarian anthems, so to speak. "Jah No Dead", "Downpressor Man", and "Curly Locks" were highlights. and "War" was one song that stuck out as i had seen Bob's son, Damian Marley, perform the same song on the same stage two nights prior. a timely song no doubt.

Sinead is a tiny woman and i have no idea where all that sound comes from but she manages to command her voice like not many i have seen before. it is stunning to watch up front.

i got a set list signed by her after the show. she was really nice and cordial to all the admirerers waiting in line. i thanked her profusely for playing in that club. i had to keep my hands in pockets so i wouldn't pat her on her cute little bald head!

early Sunday morning i got an email while deejaying the Saturday overnight from a soldier from Saint Paul who is stationed in Baghdad right now and was listening on-line. he wanted to hear some Dead Milkman. i gladly played "Punk Rock Girl" for him.

the next day i saw this headline in the paper. it freaked me out. it wasn't the same Saint Paul soldier but it was the first time i felt a direct connection to someone over there and a personal feeling of loss. i can't imagine what these 2000+ families are going through.

in any case i hope my new friend, Erik, makes it back. maybe we can drive around together this summer in a bitchin' camaro!

kitty thanksgiving.

2005-11-24T20:25:00.000-06:00

uncomfortable.

2005-11-20T22:54:00.000-06:00

my friend Susan interviewed me last week while i was working at the record store. i have known her and her husband, Chris, for a couple years now at least. they are regulars at Staraoke as well.

it was a little odd as i barely know her, didn't know what she was going to ask me and i was working and people were coming in and out of the store while i was basically divulging my life's philosophies to her mp3 recorded.

she has been doing this podcast show for a while now and got me to do this. i like a good challenge and the opportunity to riff on philosophy isn't something you get to do that often. not since college for me really.

i also find i funny that i often don't talk about this kind of stuff to those close to me but somehow thought it was cool to say to potentially any number of folks that can download her show.

wanting to be a little more myself on the radio i thought it was a good excercise for me. if i wasn't usually so nervous and/or tired sometimes i think i could riff a little more on various things on the air. in due time i suppose.

regardless this probably wouldn't be the type of stuff i would talk about on the radio. "next up a track from the new Guided By Voices box set, but first let me tell you what i think might be the meaning of god and spiritual collective unconciousness.."

say shhhivering!

2005-11-17T12:55:00.000-06:00

spent the last few nights at First Ave. to see the "Pour Me Another"tour with Atmosphere, Blueprint and P.O.S.

a 3-night sell out in the Mainroom! holy shit!

aside from being a fan and down for the cause since the begininng i have a lot of history with these guys.

first as the DJ and MD at Radio K back in the day. i remember my friend Simon coming with a Headshots tape Slug had sent us and the repeated times he used to call and harass female on-air dj's. we had him on in various incarnations through our time there. i remember a session with Happy Apple as his back up band standing out as a time i was like holy shit this guy is awesome or at least something totally new.

time went on and i started working more with the Rhyme Sayers label as a sub distributor from the Electric Fetus where Sean worked behind the counter as well. we were selling so many copies of the first few releases on Rhymesayers regionally we were writing checks to these guys weekly, sometimes two a week. eventually Fifth Element took off and Atmosphere was on the road so much he eventually left the record store.

now Fifth Element owns their whole building. have added a second floor and the label is off in seemingly all directions.

the last time i can think of anyone selling out the Mainroom 3 nights in a row was the first Suburbs re-union in '93?! and something tells me this was a different kind of crowd.

i saw this tour start off in Duluth in early September. that show was a little rough but you could tell the band was excited to get this thing off and out to the people.

by the time they would return this week they were a tight unit no doubt. Slug is so effortless with his delivery it sounds like he is making it up or like he is just speaking gibberish. but then you look around and everyone is mouthing the words along.

Erik Johnson playing keyboards, who is from St. Paul, was over the top incredible. and "Grandmaster" Nate Collis on guitar MADE the show. his playing and singing, particularily the gospel lines on "Get Fly" had me shivering. wow!

the kicker each night was always the transition from the "band" set to when Ant came out and Crescent Moon came out from behind the bar for "Trying to Find a Balance". as soon as that beat drops in the beginning after the first verse everyone goes nuts.

it wasn't until the 3rd night that Slug figured out it would be a good idea to invite Brother Ali for "Cats Vans Bags". but holy shit was it sick.

now. i am just shivering because it is really frickin' cold!

bee five?

2005-11-12T18:39:00.000-06:00

what the?

who the hell is B5?

what is going ahn?

John Cusack.

2005-11-11T17:29:00.000-06:00

John Cusack is one of my favorite actors. i would say him and Johnny Depp are probably consistently really great and even when they are in crappy movies they seem to individually pull off a performance. John tells it like it is going these days pretty well. sites a lot of cool peeps in the process.

pod thing.

2005-11-09T19:51:00.000-06:00

we have been doing these little "round table" podcasts about our favorite new CD's that you can only hear at the moment on your pod thing. i think they will eventually be on the website, etc..but i just thought i'd hep you guys to it and ask you what you think, assuming you'll take the time to listen to it, etc..it's called "Musicheads" and you can find it here.

i haven't heard any of the finished product yet and don't have a pod thing to check it out myself so i would be curious to hear some feedback..

wowee zowee!!

2005-11-02T04:52:00.000-06:00

two years ago i went as FZ for Halloween. my friend Miako was Wonder Woman. we went and saw Belle and Sebastian play at the Fitz. the band all came out in Halloween costumes and explained to the crowd, in cute scottish accents, that they didn't really understand what Halloween was.

this year i planned ahead growing a fetching beard that i could "sculpt". did FZ ever play drums?

Milo's 1st Halloween.

2005-10-31T18:12:00.000-06:00

halloween costume #1

2005-10-29T13:54:00.000-05:00

unabomber past meets unabomber present.

a poet and i didn't even know it.

2005-10-27T18:11:00.000-05:00

wow. i officially can add "published poet" to my resume!!

check out page 15 of the hard copy of this week's City Pages. or online here.

i guess my official 'pen name' is "Daniel Scott".

the Soul Asylum show with Tommy Stinson on bass was a lot of fun. it wasn't orgasmic rock and roll by any stretch but they sounded great. you can imagine a rhythm section between Tommy and Michael Bland being pretty fierce. i am looking forward to seeing this lineup again. hopefully they will know more songs by then, particularily older ones from "The Horse they Rode in On". i am content to say that is my favorite record of theirs. "Cartoon" and "Summer of Drugs" sounded awesome though!

Dan Corrigan was snapping pictures as per usual. why on earth does this guy not have several volumes of books of his pictures out?!

Eleganza! is rocking the Entry for Halloween this year. we learned a Sly and the Family Stone tune i never thought i would ever be playing in a band, not too mention "The Monster Mash". how fun is that?!

it promises to be craziness!

2005-10-21T12:21:00.000-05:00

where the hell am i?

2005-10-19T03:02:00.000-05:00

what is going on here?

i live in Minnesota. everyone i know loves the Replacements and Premium beer. since when are there Amish people here?!

what the hell is going ahn?

Jim Raschke.

2005-10-18T03:06:00.000-05:00

great article in the Strib about Baron Von Raschke.

that photo is horrifying. the interview is sheer genius.

i recently attended a Latvian wedding the Baron gave a speach at. he muttered some incoherent Lativan words of good luck he had just learned and then spouted out his famous tag line. no one knew what the hell was going on. the room was dead silent. it was awesome!

liberal jew run media.

2005-10-15T13:10:00.000-05:00

i love David Cross. this is funny. that DVD is really only worth watching once.

spetti west!

2005-10-12T05:26:00.000-05:00

best LOCAL EP of the first half of this decade is by far the new Spaghetti Western String Co.!

it's called "Quiet Mob".

it is precisely and geniusly just that.

procure and put on repeat for the rest of the year!

analog week?!

2005-10-10T01:57:00.000-05:00

hey y'all! just an advance warning and a call for submissions!

i want to impose a week of solely analog sources of entertainment and means of communication upon myself. i could explain more but it's long and kinda weird and/or boring.but at this point i am looking to see if anybody wants to join the parade.. it's only a week afterall!

also, i am looking for other ideas as to why this would ever be something anyone would ever think is a good idea to do(assuming that it is).

in reality at this point i don't really know why i am obsessed with the idea. but i feel i have a couple of months to suss it out.

in any case. i am thinking that it won't happen until December or January even. analog week seems like a real winter thing to me.

anyway. i wil stop boring you if you are still reading this. just feel free to comment or repost on your blog and let's see what the wacky world wide web thinks of the idea!

bitchin'.

2005-10-07T15:11:00.000-05:00

pretty bitchin': Soul Asylum playing two shows in the Entry with Tommy Stinson on bass! can't say i ever saw Soul Asylum in the Entry before. tix sold out in like one hour. i hope i can get my paws on one.

not even close to bitchin': the new "Big Star" CD, "In Space". really quite sad is perhaps a better way to describe it. though i could only make it through about two and half songs. perhaps the rest of the record is a "real rocker!!"?!

tonight i am seeing this band The Double in the Entry. i missed them last time they came through town. i was actually at the show as they were opening for Sons and Daughters, who were excellent!

someone tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Hey Danny, remember me!?". i did, it was this dude Jeff McCleod. he was the younger brother of the McCleod twins who i went to elementary, junior high and high school with. actually they were a year younger than me but they were so unfricken-believably smart i think they were in a lot of my grade's classes.

anyway. i'd see young Jeff always around hangin' at shows and parties and such in the 90's until he graduated high school and moved out east to become a rock star. who knew he started a band out there and they have a new record out now on Matador Records!?

it really is quite bitchin'!

mixed palette.

2005-09-28T02:14:00.000-05:00

i'm sorry i haven't written anything inna while. i have been incredibly busy. i feel like all i do lately is work and when i am not i don't even know what to do with myself. thank god there has been some great shows.

last coupla weeks i have seen Atmosphere start their tour up in Duluth. the Sights in the Entry same night as Sufjan Stevens in the Mainroom. i saw Beck at Roy Wilkins with Amy. that was really fun. then there is Arcade Fire in the Mainroom this week the same night as M.I.A. at the Fine line.

i am most psyched about Arcade Fire. i missed them in Austin last year as they sold out by the time we were going to go down there. i think the wine made us lost at some point, who knows..

but i imagine the Mainroom being the perfect spot to see them for the first time anyway. i love when a good band like them can fill up that room with sound. it is like no other, is it?

the last time i remember experiencing this feeling was when Godspeed You! Black Emporer played there the night our country started bombing Iraq. needless to say it was pretty intense.

so. i am in this art show coming up. i love the Steven's Square people. they do really great stuff in a neighborhood that is slowly turning into something other than drug dealers and prostitutes.

the show is 8 painters from the area. i don't know any of the others. but have seen some of the stuff and it's nice work.

sadly i can't be at the opening this weekend. but i would reccomend stopping by or sometime this month to check out the wares.

milo at one month.

2005-09-14T13:39:00.000-05:00

"they're tyrin' to wash us away".

2005-09-06T18:56:00.000-05:00

scratch that.

i know exactly how i feel about seeing another white politican or "director" of something give another press confrence. i am very definate in my feelings about that. i will let you guess my feelings about that.

so Fri. nite i got a pair of tickets from MPR to go to the "Prairie Home Companion" at the State Fair. they recorded the show Fri. nite to broadcast this weekend.

i have never seen the show being recorded or a concert in the Grandstand so this was a perfect opportunity all around.

i love radio. i love the idea of live radio. i always thought it'd be cool to do our version of Garrison Keillor when we were at Radio K in Rarig Center. they have an enormous theater in the building after all.

regrdless, this was incredible. in particular was the tribute to New Orleans. Pat Donohue doing Randy Newman's "Louisiana 1927" brought the whole Grandstand to tears. i highly encourage y'all to listen to it.

the Dirty Dozen Brass Band were on as well and this to me was the music i think of when i think of New Orleans and made things uplifting like only brass band music can. they were on tour on there way home when they got a call that they couldn't come home. so they came up here and rocked!

the birthplace of American music fo' sho'.

self sound.

2005-09-03T03:23:00.000-05:00

in a weird way i feel selfish about the whole new orleans thing.

the reality to me at this point seems totally unreal and all i can think about is how i won't ever get to experience that place again. politics aside, it is really troubling trying to make any sense of all this..

i had a very short visit to N'ahlins once and i freaked for that place. it was a pretty amazing place.

anyone else been?

Keef, Ronny, Mick, Charlie...you are on the guest list!

2005-09-01T17:14:00.000-05:00

TURF CLUB

TUES., September 6, 2005.

Eleganza! is rocking a Stone's "after party" in the city that always sleeps, St. Paul, MN.

we will be playing much from our "Exile on Main Street" tribute show, some other spare Stones hits and some old school classic rock and soul stuff including some Dylan, Ike and Tina, Sam and Dave, Mell McDaniels, etc..

word is Keith, Ronny or Charlie are coming down to the show to hopefully jam. this may just be a rumor but if you spread it then hopefully it will become more than just words.

see'yall Tuesday nite!

jack white portrait of mike.

2005-08-28T19:52:00.000-05:00

my buddy Mike Helget had front row seats for the White Stripes second show this weekend.

i went the first night. Mike and his wife, Karen, went both nights. when it comes to bands they love they are diehard rock and rollers. Mike has Stones' lips tattooed to his arm. Karen has the Pink Floyd prism on her back. together they follow the band Gomez who they love to Beatlemania extremes. they have seen them over a dozen times, have scrapbooks of photos and are considering a $4000 "jam band cruise" they are playing.

so at last night's show Jack White comes out on stage with a polaroid camera and snaps picks of the crowd. himself. Meg. his collection of native american dolls he has displayed on his amp, etc.. and tosses them out to the crowd. he snapped a pic of Mike who was in the front row and handed him the photo.

i thought the show friday was amazing. i was in need of a good rock and roll show in a nice theatre, i have seen dozens of great shows in the Orpheum. The White Stripes did not dissapoint and really kinda blew me away.

i took home a cool tee shirt and a little tee for my nephew, it has a picture of a bishop holding hands with the devil on it. the first night Mike went all out and bought one of the spendy 45rpm record boxes they were selling, it has the same art design "apple" motiff the band had as the backdrop of the stage. he claims he has enough 'Stripes singles to fill it. hella cool! but certainly this is the coolest thing i could think of as a momento of the show is this pic.

thanks Jack and Meg for being so frickin' cool!

ellagoes.

2005-08-27T01:42:00.000-05:00

update from Chuck T.

the blog of his wife and daughter who've been on and off taking part in protest with Cindy Sheehan down in Crawford. outside of Dubya's bunker...erm, i mean ranch.

he sent me this update today as he is going off to catch up in Crawford with his family:

"Hey, I'm headed down to Crawford tonight for the weekend.They have wireless by satellite on the Veterans For Peace bus. Live blogging from the actual ditch. How surreal.
I edited some video from Alex's first trip down.It will be on Chuck Olsen's site on Monday."

doctor.

2005-08-23T18:22:00.000-05:00

say uncle.

2005-08-13T14:27:00.000-05:00

milo.

2005-08-13T13:32:00.000-05:00

Milo Sanford Sigelman was born at 12:05 p.m. today. He is 8 lbs. 4 ounces, and 21 1/2 incheslong. Megan and Milo are happy and healthy. -Sam

Milo shares a birthday with Alfred Hitchcock and Fidel Castro! i can't wait to buy him a Descendents record when he hits his teens..

ella goes to chill with cindy and keeps it weird.

2005-08-12T02:53:00.000-05:00

my friends Alex and her daughter Ella are down in Crawford, Tejas.

feelin' the heat and checkin' out the scene where Cindy Sheehan is camped outside of Dubya's bunker, erp..i mean ranch.

Alex and Ella are fam of my good friend Chuck whom i used to create radical radio kaos with back at the 'K. coupla years ago they did a wicked "Happy to Pay for a Better Minnesota" campaign that i thought really got out an awesome point about how we live here. in short, things are awesome because we pay for it. of course there are exceptions(governors being one). but i don't want to get into that now.

in the meantime i always wanted to co-opt Austin's "Keep Austin Weird" concept and direct the similar idea of Chuck, Alex and Ella's into a "Keep Minnesota Nice" campaign. of course using Wellstone Font and colors. who knows maybe that idea will happen anyway.

2005-07-28T18:55:00.000-05:00

merge the 'chunk the iggy.

2005-07-27T01:36:00.000-05:00

if there is one american band that i have dug from the beginning and will likely continue to do so until the end of time other than Yo La Tengo it is Superchunk.

it is likely because i was in my first year of college that i found out about them and they had both sorta had "breakthrough" records at that time("Painful" and "No Pocky") that i feel this way. but i would say in terms of longevity for whatever reason and their abilities to sustain what they set out to do it kind of puts them both at the top for me.

so i see Merge Records(the label that Superchunk started) are having their 15th Anniversary!

how cool is that.

the first time i saw Superchunk or even really heard them was when their record "on the mouth" came out. my friend Dan took me to see them play at Northern Lights on University. they signed posters and were really nice but i also remember the bass player, Laura, was too cool for school to play.

so she sat on the side and laughed at the other three fumble through some "acoustic" versions(which in hind sight is very funny).

i remeber them doing "cast iron" after our friend Chris requested it. i saw them that same night in the 7th Street Entry. needless to say it was incredible.(not as good as Stereolab in the Entry!)

tonight i watched a DVD of a recent Stooges reunion show.

i am not going to say i am not a fan of the Stooges but i am not the die hard that a lot of people are. for me i only knew a few of their songs. i guess i've never really dived into their catalog. but what do you really need to know really i suppose?!

in any case, it is AMAZING! Mike Watt is on bass, so again, there's no question to how cool this is. except to be at the show i suppose it really isn't any cooler. you sort of feel a pride for rock and roll watching it. there is a heartwarming "speech" by Mike Watt as an extra on there too.

my friend, John Kass, was at this show and to him it is the greatest show he has ever been to. (that's a picture of him at that show 8/13/03)

mine is Tom Waits at the State for "mule variations", but then i am kind of a simp'.

much much much too much

2005-07-23T17:25:00.000-05:00

too much going on to write about lately.

i thought it'd be fun in a "blog excercise" kind of way to just randomly list whatever comes to mind for what i have been up to lately. that way i will remember everything and then perhaps build entries based upon all these notes that i later find interesting enough to elaborate upon. at least then i will get them out of my head before i ferget.

so here goes:

my new kitten, beaner.
weird random calls whilst overnight deejaying.
pretending i was Mary Lucia on stage at bastille day.
art car parade.
buying tons of records.
accidentally made Kate cry on the phone.
brother and wife are having baby soon.
"deejayed" at some park in plymouth for some kid's party and pissed off the park board.
saw dylan at midway stadium.
saw ruins at the triple rock.
saw alejandro escovedo at first ave.
saw fog in the entry.
being an audience extra for the PHC movie and seeing Robert Altman in the flesh directing a film.
eleganza! rocks.
chuck close exhibit at the walker.
lost my brother's keys to his apartment like a retard.
getting sick on quang(my favorite fuckin' resteraunt!) and barfing four times whilst walking home(totally embarrassing!).

my golden b-day!

2005-07-21T20:02:00.000-05:00

DANNY'S GOLDEN BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!

BBQ, BANDS and MY BAR MITZVAH!!

When:

Sunday, July 31, 2005. 5pm-???

Where:

Creative Electric Studios
2201 NE 2nd Street
Minneapolis, MN 55418
ph 612-706-7879

thas right. i been talking about it my whole life!! it's finally here...my GOLDEN birthday!!

Who:

Music from Lightning in the Bushes, Mike Gunther, the Jazz Cigarette and Deejay John Kass!
Also, on display will be a new series: "Photographs from Isreal" by my Mom, Judy Sigelman!!

Plus if I can get archival release, we will be screening my Bar Mitzvah from 1987!!

There will be food and drink but the more the better so don't be afraid to bring a little somethin' somethin'!!

I have been super busy this summer so haven't seen a lot of y'all in a while so I hope to see you then!!

coolest blog ever!!

2005-07-11T00:24:00.000-05:00

from today's Strib.

post secret.

LIL BRIAN EVIL'S B-DAY!

2005-07-10T14:50:00.000-05:00

Eleganza! will be rockin' the city that always sleeps tomorrow night!!
Monday July 11!
Turf Club in St. Paul.
it's lil' Brian Evil's birthday partay!!
we will be playing a lot of newly arranged classic hits including some Sam and Dave, Ike and Tina, the Stones and you'll get to see Vandey do his best Elvis impression as well!! thank ya verrry much!
GBV Jr. will be opening as well as another b-day boy, our trumpet player Bob's band GST will warm it up kris!
FREE FREE FREE FREE!!!
Danny.

that is all the people need to know!

2005-07-07T11:53:00.000-05:00

my good friend, Karl Raschke, has a great write up in the City Pages this week.

i first met Karl while we were both in Art school at the U. since then he and some other friends started the wicked Creative Electric Gallery i am always talking about. he is one of the most creative and nicest cats i know. he does some amazing photography.

of course when i first met Karl all i could talk about was his Dad, the legendary wrestler "Baron Von Raschke". it still comes up constantly. Karl is always happy to humor me it seems. he has a ton of great stories.

he once told me a story of how the Baron got his famous tag-line. once while doing an interview he got into his standard "wrestler rant", going off on the announcer and any potental opponents, growling fiendishly at the camera. near the end he was at a loss for words and finished with his claw and spontaneously spouted "and that is all the people need to know!"

growing up i loved AWA wrestling. we used to watch it when we came home from Sunday hebrew school every week. the Baron's move "the claw" was famous for taking out his opponents. it was consistently appropriated in our household amongst myself and my brothers as well.

i finally met the Baron a few summer's ago at a chili cook off of all places!

July Schedule o' Events!

2005-07-03T14:56:00.000-05:00

King and I Thai Lounge
tues JULY 5
10:30pm
How The West Was Won... with Sigelman and Buzenberg
Dub, Reggae, Ska, Soul, Funk, Hip Hop, Electronique, Classic Rock!

REEL POLITICS: CINEMA & CIVICS IN STEVENS SQUARE PARK
19th St. E at 2nd Ave. S
wed JULY 6
7pm
Sigelman and Buzenberg will be performaing our "Works for 7 Turntables" along with spoken words from Farheen Hakim, Peter Mclaughlin and Dean Zimmerman

ELEGANZA! with GVB cover band and GST
Turf Club
"Lil' Brian Evil's B-Day!"
mon JULY 11

ELEGANZA! playing with Mark Mallman!
fri JULY 29
Hexagon

DANNY's "GOLDEN" B-Day BBQ and HOOTENANNY!
Deejay John Kass, Thunder in the Valley, Mike Gunther, Eleganza!, the Jazz Cigarette, whoever else wants to show up and play!
sun JULY 31
4pm
Creative Electric Studios

Dax Pierson.

2005-06-29T16:10:00.000-05:00

so my friend Andy and his band, Fog, are hosting another benefit for Dax Pierson. Dax is involved with some of the Anticon bands and had a terrible neck and spine injury when his band was on the road last February. their van hit some ice and they got jarbled around. most were ok but Dax broke his neck. when you check out his site you will see how his condition(seemingly improving) and all the love from his friends and fans who have come to a call of duty for Dax. i know Atmosphere had a few benefits in town and elsewhere for the man. here's another chance to help out or for those who can't make this benefit i'd encourage y'all to buy a shirt or something. you can click on the nude dude above to do all that.

today i am incredibly exhausted. these crazy hours are catching up with me. i have been doing on-air overnights all week, working this PT day gig, playing music, painting and trying to keep up with my peeps. at least i was able to fit in a Twins game last night. they slayed KC. we had great seats my bro got for me. then i headed to the Current and managed for a while, but at about 4AM this morning when i was on the air i really started to sink and now i have this head cold. ack!

i got home at about 5:30AM this morning and found Lori, who'd just gotten home, too net-chatting it up. i crashed pretty hard and slept 'til 3 in the afternoon. slept through a photo shoot i was supposed to be at for the station's website. d'oh!

and now i am waiting for Jay to pick me up so we can judge an air-guitar contest?! such is my life i suppose..

i am just looking forward to the sauna and BBQ Glenn is hosting tonight. if there is a "center" to be found to this week, i think there is a good chance i will find it there.

2005-06-28T12:41:00.000-05:00

"no one plays the saxaphone the way you play my heart"

Bob Herbert.

2005-06-27T00:54:00.000-05:00

Bob Herbert from the NYT once again nails the hammer on the head.

gittin' 'er done!

2005-06-22T16:18:00.000-05:00

Now this is what i call hootin' tootin' yee hawlerin' gettin' it done kinda bidness!!

hee-haw!!!

Karl.

2005-06-22T12:44:00.000-05:00

i was a huge Soul Asylum fan when i was a teen.

the first thing i heard was "While You Were Out" which i got at the library when i was 14 or 15. it had a ridiculous cover, was produced to sound pretty loud and it was grunge way before it was a word. i was hooked.

from then on i missed very few chances to see Soul Asylum if i could help it. i wasn't of age but fortunately they always played a ton of all ages audiences. some out door shows and plenty of sweaty shows in the Mainroom. i thought they were the coolest band in the world. a bit more consistent and tight than the Replacements and more melodic than Husker Du.

i never knew Karl but i suppose i met him and the band once. i actually show up as a wee lad in a documentary about them.

anyway. it's a bummer Karl is gone.

comets on fire.

2005-06-14T11:50:00.000-05:00

saw another great show LAST night!

Comets on Fire wowed them in the 7th Street Entry.

a fairly full room bathed in the sonic blast. those guys put out a killer sound. i reccomend seeing them to get the full effect. i bought their live album and had some of the dudes sign it for me. they had all sorts of records and merch. i love it when a band jumps off stage and sells their own merch. really cool guys!

that last rambling post ended a bit abruptly. i was writing while i was deejaying late the other night. the main point i wanted to make was to highlight a wicked article that came out in the City Pages this week about the "50 Greatest Minnesota Hits". it's a great read and fun to remember some of the gems from the last 15 years or so. i probably have 3/4 the records they picked.

particularily the Ninotchka single that my friend, Andrea, put out on Grimsey. there was a period of time John Crozier, Amy Turany(then in the band February) and i were putting together a live version of Ninotchka. never quite materialized.

anyway. it kinda brings everything full circle. and i love the "scene is now" piece Jim Walsh wrote.(check the very creepy picture of Sean!)

speaking of full circle i finally saw the new Star Wars III. man is it incredible! i was all down on it because i thought the first two kinda blew, but this was really exhilerating and to sort of feel emotionally resolved about the story was settling.(you have to understand when i was little, up until i was probably twelve, all i thought and talked about was Star Wars!!!)...i really felt like a kid again in awe of the screen!

summer summer summer.

2005-06-12T18:01:00.000-05:00

i saw a ton of music this week!

started off with the unfortunate farewell party pre-Hold Steady festivities in the V.I.P. room for Let It Be Records. i had shopped on and off there for years. have bought a ton of great stuff there. i remember when we used to bike from Golden Valley to downtown and we'd hit Let It Be and Northern Lights before going to some of the all ages shows in the Entry. biking home with a stack of records in a bag was always tough but we'd be buzzing from some of the bands we'd see then; Walt Mink, the Style Monkees, the Blue Up?, etc..

i also have a fond memory of playing an in-store at Let It Be. it was actually the first show i had ever done with the Jim Ruiz Group. i had had only a couple days to learn their songs then we played Let it Be for the release of the bands first CD and then off to the East where i found myself playing for strangers whilst dressed in pajamas.

in the meantime it was a really sentimental evening. the Hold Steady played forever and knocked everyone out. Craig talked a lot about missing Minneapolis and how great NYC is but not the same. how cool to see them practically sell out the mainroom! Craig was a good friend when he was living here. i was really happy for those guys and all that is going on with them and now i hear they are going to be on Conan!?

tuesday i biked down to the Ave. again and saw another incredible Neko Case show.

saturday my bro and i saw Digable Planets in the Mainroom. again the place was packed. tons of beutiful ones working the floor and everything was perfect.

then tonight i wrap up the week with my second favorite Austin, Tx band, Spoon.(Grupo Fantasma are easily the kings of Austin!)

jazz cigarette.

2005-06-01T12:50:00.000-05:00

yikes.

so i booked this show months ago for our band. now the week comes up and i don't have a band!

what to do?

well. my roommate Brian and i have been playing togther in this new band of his. we did the Stone's "Exile on Main Street" a coupla weeks back to rave reviews. we are going to be learning a bunch of more old school tunes and do the cover band "revue" type thing. nothing like playing with a big band. i love it!

so this week i been scrambling to get something together for Fri. nite at the Red Hot Arts Fest. Kurt agreed to fill in for Yub since he left. but now this week Kurt has gotten sick. so no practice, no songs, nothing...aahhh!!

i have some ideas using some of these old reel to reel tapes i found. i decided to make the reel to reel player a band member. it can't get too drunk and is always on time to practice. Brian is going to add some guitar sound and we will play some his songs. my "songs" are more like meditations. very droney, atonal with a lot of space. since i don't know how to write music this seems to be my best method at the moment as far as getting the sounds in my head out into the universe..it has been sounding pretty good. and perhaps better than i expected. much much different then our big band, Eleganza!.

this "band" is the Jazz Cigarette.

coming up...

2005-05-23T18:22:00.000-05:00

.:ONE OF EACH: A Sampling of Red Hot Artists
OPENING RECEPTION June 3, 7-11PM
Music by Most Fun Wins, DJ Money Flows and DJ Paul Harding

________

i don't have any pieces in this show. i will be doing the music at this event. Paul and i are deejaying but we are also playing a "soundtrack" to the event. we have added Kurt to the band(who is plaing the guitar he bought from Yub no less, for continuity perhaps). see ya then.

in the mix.

2005-05-21T21:42:00.000-05:00

so it has been a coupla weeks since i started working at the Current.

what a trip.

i only sit and press one button once an hour for the first half of the 6-hour shift so as to monitor the "Jazz Image" re-broadcast.

just as well as i like to listen to it anyway. i guess now i just get paid to listen to it.

truly i never would have thought i'd be Leigh Kamman's "co-worker"(though i am just playing a tape of him).

being a mega jazz head myself, to be able to facilitate his work and way of educating and telling stories about the genre, it is an honor. plus i get to bring my jazz records from my own stash to fill out the rest of the last hour as it tends to end 15-20 minutes before the end of the hour.

last week i threw on a cut from Eric Dolphy's "Berlin Concerts" double LP. a classic performance for a pretty much unknown dude this side of the pond. a lot being an American helped him in his country. he had to move to France away from the U.S. to get any work(not much demand in the U.S. then for jazz basoon and bari-sax). he died pretty young to boot.

in any case i get to play his(and other jazzers from my collection) records now on the radio from time to time. so you can't beat that.

perhaps when they tear down the Guthrie Theatre i will play a side from the Mingus record i have that was recorded at the Guthrie.(there is a song dedicated to Dolphy on that recording incidentally).

last weekend i made the mistake of not eating much whilst watching the I-Quit show at the Rogue Buddha. they had Tim Glenn and Chris Thomson up in there. Andy Broder and Adam Linz made a bunch of crazy noise on turntables which is always a good thing.

then afterward i headed home, grabbed a cup of coffee(on an empty stomach-ugh!) and headed over to the station.

it was rough as i was not ready. but i stumbled through some breaks and said hopefully nothing too dumb. mostly talked about the music i was playing, Radiohead's crazy website, the problem Alan from Low's been having(a tough thing to talk about as i think i can relate), some shows i saw over the weekend(one of which, Monade, was amazing!) and whatever else came to mind. there was a documentary about Fritos on the TV in the studio, i probably wisely abstained from talking about that.. cable TV or public radio...how's a consumer to decide?.

in the meantime i am having fun. i get to DJ at night which is something i never really got to do at Radio K as we were a daytime only station at the time.

there is a different vibe to listening to music at night that if you never listen to music at night or otherwise you probably wouldn't understand. but it takes something different to lay still and listen to music, or sit and watch your baby, or make out with that guy or gal you are with(depending on whether you are a guy or gal or not) whilst listening to music at night. what a kick to play those tunes that someone out there doing all the above or none of them can hear somewhere else.

i constantly listen to music. virtually all the time. if i don't have an actual music source near me i can usually hear it in my head.

i don't own an i-pod because i don't really need one. since it is always in my head anyway.

i know a lot of people like me. we tend to stay in packs.

if you've never been to a record convention i highly reccomend it.

i have so many stories from people i know just from being a music addict. they are endless stories. i try to remember as many as possible. it would make an incredible movie. no doubt about it. if you have ever met my friends Betty and Barb, whom i once met at a record show and subsequently at a lot of record stores and such you know exactly what i am talking about.

if you haven't then give me a ton of dough and i will make the movie. it is all in my head.

anyway. major tangent.

the point is i think there are more people who like music now. and as long as there are more people liking music then i think we are all doing fine.

right now i am listening to James Brown "Love Power and Peace". a '71 Paris concert at the Olympia. good gawd y'all!!!

bye bye Yu!

2005-05-13T18:40:00.000-05:00

Danny & Yub Yu-Mike and Amy's wedding, July '04.

man. it came as quite a shock! i show up late to band practice(as per usual) and Paul asks if i "got the email?".

it's a note from Bo, Yub's wife, turns out he and the crew(they got two twin daughters) are pulling up stakes and moving to Portland, OR?!?!

they had sold their house recently and were getting ready to close on another one when things went sour at Yub's work and they let him go.

i know they haven't been happy here for a while. i think Yub has missed living near an ocean, the cold is discouraging(of course) and i think they have been looking for a place to settle a little more long term as the girls get older.

Yub has talked about some discrimination he has felt being in different work and social settings. so they decided to move to a more "liberal" place. hard for me to imagine. but then, i have never been Asian...

i suppose if there is a more "liberal" place in the "U.S.A." it'd be Portland! it's a great, clean, sales-tax free place to be.

but i can't help but miss them already. Yub really got Paul and myself going with this band we have been working on for the last year or so.

we jammed and recorded a bunch Monday night once Yub showed up and gave us the news in person. like most things i think change is always good. and i think we have enough material in the bag to actually do something with and hopefully that stuff will evolve into something greater. that's kind of the point i suppose.

i will miss seeing the twins grow up, Bo and Yub and his awesome korean dumplings!

good luck Yu clan!

Current!

2005-05-09T19:41:00.000-05:00

wicked!

i had my first airshift on the Current this morning. 11pm-5am...graveyard stylee!

man, i am really tired. but it was really fun. i feel really lucky and fortunate to have been given the chance over there. Steve Nelson and Thorn were the same guys that trained me in to be a deejay back in the day at WMMR and Radio K. so it is like old times again, but better. now if only they had Arkenoid in the basement of this station like we did then.

i will write more about my new adventures over at the Current i suppose as they develop.

i would like to do a lot of things.

future Sigelman.

2005-05-07T14:09:00.000-05:00

Megan on Mother's Day.

sick...again?!

2005-05-04T13:07:00.000-05:00

so i am sick. man it's a drag. it seems to be going around. and for the same reason for many people.

i tried to blame the weather but i think the truth is i have been running myself ragged.

working and playing are adding up to less sleep, more indulgence and not enough sustainence. so the body is telling me to cool it.

so this week i sleep in. eat more. and drink lots of water and tea. i hope to nip it in the bud by the end of the week. the weekend already looks like it'll be a busy one.

i am trying to get another job right now. something i have always wanted to do. teach art. i do have art degree afterall!?

so i am taking on this part time after school course that this lady has set up with several schools around the city.

the other day for my training i sat in with a class at my old elementary school, Meadowbrook Elementary, in Golden Valley. it was a very surreal experience. i didn't recognize anything except for the big sinks. the ones you step on the pedal and the water comes out in little streams.

the hallways looked familiar, but with the massive updates and expansion to the building i didn't recognize much.

the class is a very basic "you follow what i do on the chalk board and i walk around and tell you if yours looks right" kind of instruction. i am really skeptical about it. but i figure in due time i can put my own spin on things. as much class or instruction as i have had in art or music i have always been self taught and feel it's basic human inuition that guides the best results for what i do and for what inspires someone's imagination. especially these really young children. it was amazing to see how differnt each kid's piece was and to watch them draw and see how their mind works i think in the end can teach me a thing or too.

tomorrow night i have my first gig with a new group i have joined. this an outift my new roommat, Brian, has put together. it is actually quite a large ensemble with horns and backup singers. the impetus was for a cover band night these guys played in the entry a few months ago. they since decided to do a show later this month where we are performing the Stone's "Exile on Main Street". it is a bit of a challenge with the arrangements and just trying to get everyone together at one time. but overall it is sounding great! and has given me a chance to play with more musicians. i have been having a hard time trying to play with different people for some reason. it is really typical in the TC's that people, particularily musicians, tend to stay within the same little cliques of players. i seem to remember a time there was a bit more cross-pollinization with players. maybe i am just with the wrong crowd. but regardless, this a great group of people and the spirit is definately right on. i think the Cinco De Mayo set we are doing tomorrow night should be a good spark for what's to come with some of these players and this band. if only because i get to sing "La Bamba"!

Ladies, Flowers, M.I.A.

2005-04-30T14:14:00.000-05:00

for the past few weeks or so my Mom and i have been volunteering in a program i have done a coupla times in the past. it's called "Art Buddies" and it is run by a program called Creatives for Causes headed by Sue Crolick. who, needless to say, is an awesome individual.

i roped my Mom into it this time because we have volunteered together much in the past(Harriet Tubman is where she rolls) plus it is time we get to hang out. so sorta like killing to birds with one stone(though a lot more fun).

before the session i met her and my Aunt at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. they were having this wicked flower show!

so it was basically me and about a thousand much much older ladies all checking out all the flowers amongst all the art. and vice versa.

i love the Institute! i recently moved close by to it.

i probably go there once a month minimum. usually for inspiration or just to bask in the fact so many cool things, many of which are thousands of years old, in my town.

i always spend a few minutes in front of one of my favorites, "Blind Man's Buff" by Max Beckmann.

he is an old school cat, Austrian and was exiled to Holland when the Nazi's were coming down on our asses back in the day. the self portrait hanging in the Chicago Institute is my personal fave.

but there's no point in comparing them i suppose.

this week in SIGHT and SOUND!

2005-04-25T19:14:00.000-05:00

my band plays thursday and my art comes down saturday while i play some records.

the busiest man in showbiz, oustide of James, yo!

check it:
thursday, April 28. 9pm+ Hexagon Bar.2600 27th Ave S, Minneapolis, 55406
"Keep MN Nice" Vol. 2 wit': Quilombolas and the Most Fun Wins. plus deejays Motor Skills(that be me and Buzenberg).

saturday, April 30. 7 to 11pm SpotArt Gallery.1828 Marshall St, N Minneapolis
myself and 7 other visual artist's art comes down.(i may even put some new ones up i wrecked since the opening last month!). Motor Skills on the uno y dos.

Slow Down! Wake Up! Slow Ride Take it Easy!

music. music. music.

2005-04-23T18:11:00.000-05:00

Medeski, Martin, Wood-First Avenue Mainroom. 4/17/05

i been able to lately fill just about every waking moment(though i fall asleep to as well) a ton great music lately. i always feel lucky i sometimes get paid and/or get free drinks to play music for other people.

last weekend i spun at the Walker Member's Opening party. it was myself, Krista and Jen mixing up the batter on the irons that night with the sound booming out across Gallery Eight and onto the patio of the new building(tented that night because of rain). i heard 5000 came to the party at various times throughout the night. i barely got to see anything it was so crowded. i did manage to hang out with Pogue, my new roomate, Brian, Sam and Megan, and catch up with others.

how cool then when whilst i was playing some early Asha Bosle freakout i, Megan spots Bjork in the room with her son and boyfriend, Matthew Barney, in the room. i had Alice Coltrane cued up. nex t was Le Tigre remix and i sorta spotted Ms. Guðmundsdóttir nodding along. of course Krista had to burst my bubble..'she was probably just shaking her head affirmatively to whoever she was talking to..'.

in any case. the whole party was wicked! and i will likely go back this week to see the rest of the ice cube.

here's whats been making me nod affirmatively lately:

Yo La Tengo 'Prisoners of Love' box set(3 disks, on repeat for just about 2 weeks now!).
Brian's Replacements vinyl bootlegs.
the new Aphex Twin 12''
M.I.A. double vinyl.
the Medeski, Martin and Wood show at First Ave.
Ornette Coleman at the Walker.(not that i actually got to see him..)
Lyrics Born remix disk.
Tasha Baron's senior recital at Creative Electric.
some extremely awful southern blues-rock sounding band i saw at the St. Paul Art Crawl last night(i don't know what they were called. but there was nobody there except for myself and my friends. they had two Gibson hollow-bodies and did a cover of "Why Don't We Do it In the Road".)
Radio K FM really late at night on my porch while i paint.
Moby tomorrow night at First Ave.

4/20 Dinkytonwer!

2005-04-19T13:29:00.000-05:00

yo Check it!

my man Paul Harding and I are throwing down the wicked product on the 1's and 3's this WEDNESDAY nite at the DINKYTOWNER!

it'll be April 20 or as some call it 4/20!

usually we have a theme each week at the DT but this time we can't really think of one... so all's i can say is come on down for the FRESHIES and DRINK SPESHIES and find out what this week's theme IS!

Dinkytowner Pub and Grub

412 1/2 14th Ave SE MPLS, MN 55414 10pm+ FREE!! FREE!! FREE!!

Pope Benedict XVI represent 'sent!

Walker Art Center Opening.

2005-04-16T22:07:00.000-05:00

with roommate/roadie, Lil' Brian Evil.

much wine consumed!

2005-04-16T16:37:00.000-05:00

"Keep MN Nice Vol. 1" at Hexagon. 3/31/05. Most Fun Wins with Mike Brady.(photo by Beatrix*JAR)

walker's wicked weekend !

2005-04-15T17:23:00.000-05:00

big weekend!

tonight is John Nelson's deelio over at the Rosalux. he and i have worked in the past at Radio K and live even.

tomorrow night: i am super psyched to deejay at the member's only opening party at the Walker. i plan on recording it for a possible cee-dee in the future.

sunday: take a it down a notch, spinning at the Medeski Martin Wood show at First Avenue. rumor has it since the "smoking ban" has kicked in there has been an increase in other plumages of inhalitory enhancements at the Ave., makes me sorry i am going to miss the Wailers show Saturday..

oh, speaking of which, Paul Harding and i are throwing down for 4/20 wed. nite at ye olde Dinkytowner.

ok. that's it for now. stay home if you must or seeya when i seeya.

uptown girls.

2005-04-09T18:45:00.000-05:00

very unfortunate the Twins didn't take the opener. no worries though. i think it will be another great team and another great year! the tribute to Bob Casey they showed before the game was touching and highly surreal, for obvious reasons i think.

i didn't make it to the game as i was participating in a pretty cool event that Creative Electric is hosting this weekend. it's a spoken word show from the Lit 6 Project. because of my experience, or perhaps conditioning, i have never gotten that into spoken word. except for some of the records which i often use for deejaying i usually don't get much out of it. but these guys seemed different as there was more humor involved. humor always seems to make things go down easier no doubt. plus the theme of the show was this guy, Geoff Herbach was celebrating his "bar mitzvah". something i guess i could relate to. mine, when i turned 13, was in July 1987(incidentally the same year the Twins won their first World Series trophy). i am trying to think of a way to incorporate that them for my 31st(and golden!) b-day in July. i tried to find the old tape of my bar mitzvah to show last night. but it is no doubt burried in boxes at my parents and we couldn't figure where to begin to look for it.

anyway, i just moved to the Uptown area for the first time ever. for some reason i always resisted Uptown. thinking it was too fast moving or "hipster" for my taste i suppose. Uptown tends to give me that feeling. but i have been enjoying it if not just for the proximity to a lot of things i used to go across town to do and check out before.

the Walker Art Center and Sculpture Garden, the MIA, Treehouse Records, Spyhouse, Jasmine Deli and on and on.

not too mention all the cool stuff i have found from people throwing things away on the sidewalk! but then i'm like that..

oh yeah. dem uptown gyall! boo yaka shot!

noooooooo smoooooooking!!

2005-04-01T15:46:00.000-06:00

how sadly perfect Bob Casey, the announcer for the MN Twins for the last 44 years dies the week before the new Hennepin/Ramsey Counties smoking ban ordinance.

i grew up going to Twins games and hearing him over the PA announce all my favorite players back in the day; Kent Hrbek, Frank Viola, "Kiiiiiiiiiiiirrrrbbbbeeeeey Puckett!!", Dan Gladden and last year Christian Guuuuuuuzeman, Jacques Jones and Johann Santana.

i remember as a kid always waiting for him to announce "Noooooooooo Smooooooooking! No Smoking in the Metrodome", then Kent Hrbek would make some signal with hands about not smoking. was there ever really smoking in the Metrodome to begin with?

i think in college when i was in art school i tried to be a smoker. it seemed like something a struggling art student should be. i used to buy those little indian cigarettes wrapped in tiny leaves and smoke those at the coffee shops while i sketched in my journals and stuff. they were always hard to stay lit and really didn't taste like anything they were so small. i had friends in high school that smoked a lot of clove cigarettes, i loved how those smelled, but my lungs ached anytime i tried one.

so last night our band, the Most Fun Wins, had its first gig. it went really well!

i haven't played in a band in a few years mainly for that reason. definately the smoky atmosphere, however much it can be romanticised, was something i had been losing patience with. it really came to a point where i didn't see a lot of music i would have liked to because i grew tired of smelling like an ashtray at the end of the night.

there seems to be a lot of disdain about the new ordinance. i think that is coupled with a lot of denial. i understand it is the most addictive and worst habit you could have. it is not easy and sometimes impossible to give up. so i have heard. i got lucky and just never really liked it..

music has always been my "vice". seems to be a good one to have. and now with smoke free-ness i get to feed my fix even more!

KEEP MN NICE! Hexagon! Thurs! 4 Smoking BANDS! FREE!

2005-03-29T02:08:00.000-06:00

the debut of our new monthly "Keep MN Nice" variety nite is going down at the Hexagon this Thursday!

the first nite of freshie air and dressing to impress!

this month's installment includes my new band, "The Most Fun Wins", and Bianca and Jacob's "Beatrix*JAR" also, we will be backing up "Mike Brady" and "Jim the Barber"

Deejays "Money Flows" and "Paul Harding" to keep the party going!

4 Smoking Bands to alleve your aural fixation no doubt!

Thurs, March 31

9pm+

FREE FREE FREE!!

Hexagon Bar

2600 27th Ave S, Minneapolis55406

(612) 722-3454

Coon Rapids...who knew?

2005-03-21T00:31:00.000-06:00

Jon and i ventured out to Coon Rapids tonight to catch "Second Coming: Battle Royale", where the MN Roller Girls league had it's latest event.

two mayhem infused bouts between the Dagger Dolls and Silver Bullets and the Atomic Bombshells(my favorite!) vs. the Garda Belts.

the place was packed! people from all over. a great balance of agression and love in the room. i think people are excited about the possibility of a fun old but new sport taking off like this in the TC's. Roller Derby girrls were all the rage in Austin.

my good friend Auralee(pictured) is captain of the Bombshells and despite ankle issues showed up and gave it her all!

goodbye Justin.

2005-03-18T17:05:00.000-06:00

just got word that Justin Hinds passed on last Wednesday of lung cancer.

i was fortunate enough to have interviewed him once on Radio K. he was a very kind and enthusiastic man. he really didn't get his due the way he should have in the United States.

in the summer 2002, i went to Toronto to help my friend, Brad, with an a documentary on early Jamaican music, "The Legends of Ska". these shows featured and reunited a couple dozen of the original 60's Jamaican players and singers. Justin was one of the stars. my brother and i got to hang out with him all week. he was always a treat to be around. very gentle and full of life. when it was his turn to sing at the show he rose to the occasion and belted out his most famous hits with his sweet and golden voice.

thanks for the great memories Justin!

the center of the earth is the end of the world.

2005-03-16T16:38:00.000-06:00

man. i am not good with the computer devices. er is it vice versa.

trouble with getting pics online, links going to the right places..

no matter. i just gotta say i really need a website, and/or someone else doing it for me to my specifications. it would be a lot cooler and more consistent/informative.

oh well i will stick to the things i know best and then all else falls in line, synchronizes if you will.

in the meantime i must post about the "Color Spots" show my friend, Scotty(aka SPLEEE) has set up for this weekend. it features yours truly and 8 other artistes!

it is gonna be a wicked opening, with great music and Toki the rasta dog..er is it "maga dog"...oh you will see.

here's the deetz:

Color Spots!

close your eyes real tight, spin around ten times and look out the window when it’s raining

March 18, 2005 7pm-11pm

Gallery Open Tuesday thru Saturday, 12:00pm - 5:00pm

Live music by:
Ironlung & his Acoustic Intifada, Spaghetti Western and the Pines

plus Henna art by Judy Ostrowski
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• spleee — paintings
• Cory Weissman — paintings
• Teresa Kupin — paintings
• Mark Mustful — raku pots
• Danny Sigelman — paintings
• Megan Moore — paintings
• Cassandra Monson — paintings
• Layla — photography
• Alex Moros — paintings

2005-03-12T11:45:00.000-06:00

color spots close your eyes real tight

2005-03-04T14:05:00.000-06:00

Tuesday is International Womens Day!

Some of us like to celebrate that everyday, but no matter

Come down to the King and I Thai Lounge and celebrate!

Tuesday, March 8!!

at long last, my man Buzenberg and I will be back at the King and I Thai Lounge!

musical enhancement tends to flow from an assortment of genres, particularily those who have reproduced their repetoire via the traditional "vinyl" medium..imagine Current Deejays, but with more hair.

King and I Thai Lounge
1346 LaSalle Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55403
10:30pm on..and on and on...

Tel: (612)332-6928 Fax: (612)338-4293

feel free to fax in requests!

Back: in black, in the New York Groove, in time..

a lamb.

2005-03-01T03:06:00.000-06:00

ok. it's march. what the?

they said on the "news" that march would come in like a lamb. i guess that's ok. i had a very short winter myself. i'm sick of it though. i would trade all this for breakfast tacos and t-shirt weather in Texas anyday now.

but for real i got so much stuff going on right now i feel i should post some of it just so i can remember. my memory isn't always air tight and i am not terribly organ-iz-ized.

so. turns out i get to "currate" a night a month at the Hexagon. this old ass bar sorta near lake st. over by Stardust lanes.

that should be hella wicked. Paul and i DJed there the other night and a good time. our band was suppopsed to play but Yub got something fierce so we just played records. which is often my second favorite music thing to do.

today i went to lunch with my good friend and mentor, John Kass. he and i did our two favorite things to do(besides hang out), we went to Udupi Cafe for lunch and shopped for old records at Savers. it was my first trip to Udupi in the month i been back and it was solid. i ate a lot from the buffett.

i got a few records: Ten Years After, Iron Butterfly and a Return to Forever record. all were $1.49 each.

i then dropped John off at his office and went to my beloved Salvation Army on 10th Ave. which was funny because John and i were listening to the new Fog in the car while we drove out to Columbia Heights.

the Salvation Army had it's usual fare. some cool stuff actually. i go there to find junk basically to make cool stuff out of. i haven't done much of the collagey stuff since i left my old apartment. it is fun to do again. it would take forever for me to explain my process so i won't now. but it is a section of the images i like to make that are from a variety of "found" things. they are generally small pieces and cut and paste type images i found easiest to do in my old place.

i been bum rushing my folks color printer so it will be easier as well to print pictures of stuff i have taken on my camera and incorporate that shit as well.

i have a an art show(besides the one i have in a couple weeks) in April i want to be more exclusively the printed color copy found collage small things i used to make in my apartment show.

ugh. it's late. why am i up. ok. good night. time to count. sheep.

the sand people.

2005-02-24T18:19:00.000-06:00

my last blog about monks and/or sand, promise!(at least until the next lifetime..)

MN is home to 2000 Tibetans. there were many there chanting along for the consecration.

they moved the rope so people could get up close and see the piece. until one woman(a Chaska resident perhaps) walked up and touched the edge of it. duh!

the oldest Monk threw some flowers and dragged his little bell thingie across it from each side. then the others brushd the sand into one corner and put it in little bags for everyone to take home for good luck!

respek!

2005-02-24T18:14:00.000-06:00

disassemble.

the monk's progress.

2005-02-20T14:19:00.000-06:00

we checked up on the monk's today at the Mall. Sam, Megan and i drove out to Fort Snelling to take the new part of the light rail they just finished building. there was a very disgusting old man reading porn on the train and coughing and hacking behind us.

the map for the light rail is really funny. instead of the elaborate and visually stimulating subway maps of NYC, Chicago, SF or London the light rail map is but just one straight line with a bunch of stops on it.

i guess things really big like that take time. just ask the monks.

2005-02-20T14:15:00.000-06:00

S.S. on the L.R.

monks at the mall.

2005-02-14T18:20:00.000-06:00

"valentine lake"

this was a drawing i made valentine's day last year. it was done on Medicine lake in an "Art Shanty". some friends put together a "camera obscura" inside a ice fishing house and i quickly sketched out what was projected on the wall. the image was actually upside down but it was a fairly clear image of the little heart-shaped skating rink Kari had shoveled out of the snow. you can vaguely see her, her dog, Tema Stauffer and others on the ice. it was all done really quick.

they did the art shanty again this year. still got to get out there before the ice melts.

this year i hung out with my Mom most the day. we went to the Mall of America where i heard there was a tibetan sand mandala being constructed. it was part of a Tibetan Cultural Festival. there were two monks painstakenly pouring little grains of colored sand to make up the piece. when they are finished it will be dismantled and poured into a stream somewhere. it is an excercise in futility. i found the spiritual contrast between them and the atmosphere at the Mall of America stunning.

it was amazing how they could concentrate like that. plus the whole dicotomy of the immaterial nature of their practice and the surrounding over-saturated commercialism the Mall is famous for was incredible. not to mention the irony behind where most of the products for sale in the shops at the Mall tend to be made in, China, the same country that occupies Tibet and outlaws the same practices they were demonstrating in the Macy's Rotunda.

on the way out we met a guy who was selling art and crafts from india. i have been wanting to get a gong for a long time. i was inspired by a guy i saw using one in an acid jazz outfit at this party i was at in Austin. also he had these indian style paintings of various hindu love gods and such. i treated myself to both.

we hope to see the dismantling ceremony of the mandala, February 24 at 12:30pm. maybe see y'all there!

2005-02-14T10:34:00.000-06:00

For those playing the home game.

2005-02-13T09:40:00.000-06:00

just in case you are keeping track. here is a list of the 154 government programs Der Fuhrer is proposing to cut.

he's right. our country spends too much. in "stay dumb" America who needs education? or health?

incidentally his latest "budget" adds up to roughly a 4% increase in spending.

what a salesman!

one love.

2005-02-06T02:54:00.000-06:00

today is Bob Marley's birthday!

he'd a been 60! wow. i went to a tribute concert at the Cabooze on Friday nite. that was wonerful. i went to a play before hand with the family. it was about the holocaust, called "Jack and Rochelle". it was actually about the grandparents of a friend of Jon's. it was sad but also hopeful as the two of them survived together and ended up getting married, etc.

anyway, i needed a pick me up afterward so headed down and caught the second set. Bob seems to be a spirit that will never die. the room was packed. you could hardly move. there were a few people up front in wheel chairs, there were hippies, punks, yuppies, ethiopians from the west bank, all types of folks moving and singing along. what great songs those are!

yesterday my Mom and i went for a walk around Lake Calhoun. it was beautiful out and a lot of snow was melting so there were many puddles to dodge. many people were walking, jogging and those die hard bikeriders that ride all year long(they always have that line across their back from the water coming up off the back wheel).

there was a cross country ski course being set up for today that took over part of the path along the lake and went up toward uptown and block most of Hennepin. we saw a few skiiers doing time trials or something.

we stopped by Brad's for some tea and cheese and hung out with Sam and Josie a bit. Brad got me a job at one of these "ebay" stores in town. that should be interesting.

back from austin.

2005-01-27T02:56:00.000-06:00

we got back yesterday.

it was a quick drive.

there really isn't much to see between Texas and Minnesota. like really nothing. there are a lot of humongus crosses along that stretch of highway. and a "George Bush Turnpike" in Oklahoma.

we stopped in Lawerence, KS which is always a fun little college town. i was wicked tired and fell asleep to "Sex in the City" re-runs.

i think we only stopped a few times on our way out of Lawerence. Minneapolis looked big when we got here. we actually got lost getting off the highway to head out to Golden Valley. it feels great to be back. i went down to the Dinkytowner last night to hear Paul and Rocky spin. Yub and i shot pool.

road travel music was:

Willie Nelson box set.

Alice Coltrane "Translinear Space"(drove my Mom nuts).

Fog "10th Ave. Freakout".

Arcade Fire "Funeral".

Atmosphere "Headshots 7".

Green Day "American Idiot".

John Lennon "The Very Best Of".

Bjork "Greatest Hits".

"300% Dynamite" Soul Jazz Reggae Comp.

Low "Lifetime of Temporary Relief"

a mix CD of soul tunes Fathertime made for me.

U2 "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb"

Saint Etienne "Fox Base Alpha"

2005-01-24T03:37:00.000-06:00

this guy followed me around in austin.

funny drummer.

2005-01-23T13:43:00.000-06:00

someone on my mailing list told their favorite Johnny Carson story.

i'd never heard it before. but apparently Johnny had Buddy Rich on his show once. he had him on many many times actually.(by the way, Carson when not doing his thing on TV was a drummer and quite good so i have heard.)

so Buddy Rich was to perform that night on the Tonight Show only Johnny before the show had taken razor blades to Buddy Rich's drumheads. small enough so he couldn't see them. but big enough so that his sticks went right through the drums when he started playing. i don't know that this ever got on the air but i would pay to see it. Buddy Rich had the worst temper in the world!

i grew up hearing my parents laughing in the other room at night to Johnny's show. i always liked watching him. he seemed to understand how to entertain people and could always take it when people picked on him.

he always had different drummers on the show and getting to see Ed Shaughnessy, the big dummer with big mutton chops, every night playing with the band was incredible and no doubt an influence on me.

there is nothing like that show on TV now. seems like TV doesn't entertain anymore at all come to think of it. there is all sarcasm, sardonicism and nothing self-effacing about TV personalities now.

there should be more funny drummers on TV again.

2005-01-18T12:18:00.000-06:00

transistor

hey senator.

2005-01-18T09:57:00.000-06:00

one of my favorite websites, the usually vitriolic(they keep calling the inauguration a "coronation") Buzzflash.com has a quick editorial on the ol' Senator, Wellstone. they are also offering the newly released documentary on him. i haven't seen it yet but saw a rough cut of some scenes about a year ago. it is always invigorating watching him speak. the same feeling you get when you see MLK speechificating or watch Bruce Springsteen or Chuck D perform. after he died i remember MPR played several of his more historic and significant speeches in the senate and on various campaign trails. unlike most "politicians" these days, he truly was the real deal.

last week in Austin.

2005-01-15T15:38:00.000-06:00

so it's come to grips and i decided i gots to go home to the freezing great white north.

i am looking forward to being back in my element but not the elements. i looked online today and saw it was one below! i knew i wouldn't stay in Austin forever but i was hoping i would at least miss the winter entirely. all the emails from friends whom i told i was coming back start with "dude, it is fucking cold!" or "it is colder than shit...are you sure you want to come back!?"

oh well, i can now say i have some great friends in Texas. and if i found some decent work and was able to stick it out for a while longer and get my own place i would love to stay.

but i can tell i am crowding Anne a bit and i now know Austin is just a bit too small.

i left Minneapolis because i thought it was a bit too small but i have tons of connections and i am already getting calls for work and a free place to stay for a couple of months!

so i know where home is.

tonight i am going to Kristine's B-Day and "unemployment" party then one more cooking night, some group karaoke, Aesop Rock at Emo's and then hang out with Kate a bit this weekend, the Hustons, then i am outta here.

my Mom should be coming down next week and driving back with me.

yay roadtrip with the Mom!!

2005-01-11T17:18:00.000-06:00

freakin' baby jesus!

2005-01-11T17:16:00.000-06:00

yesterday Kate and i did the rounds at some of the antique/thrift shops down on North Loop. didn't really find much. i got Roland Kirk and Jackie Mittoo records that i found used at Sound on Sound.

across this street is a pretty cool thrift store of all sorts of shwank and kitschy items. didn't find anything there but on my way out there was a free box. inside i found some nativity characters so i grabbed them. i thought i could sell them on ebay or something. but Kate informed me a couple characters were missing. some wisemen or something. i figured i would find something to do with them.

we came back to my place and chilled for awhile and ate some leftovers. i was jonesing for some coffee and it was so nice out we took a walk over to Mojo's on Guadalupe.

on the way over we decided to plant some of the nativity characters in random spots along the way.

a wiseman on the ground next to the parking lot of Trudy's. Mary on a post next to the dry cleaners. a little baby Jesus found a home in some crevice on the wall to some abandoned resteraunt.

we made it to Mojo's where i ordered some coffee and my favorite, peacon pie. Kate was illin' a little bit still so got some tea. they always say they will heat up the pie there but it never seems to happen all the way through.

as i paid for everything i happened to notice a little message on the cash register, "freakin' baby jesus!" it said. i explained to the girl working there why i wanted to take it's picture and what we had just been doing. she seemed pretty unimpressed like it was a normal thing for people to be doing around here.

that's Austin, i guess.

2005-01-11T17:15:00.000-06:00

knock knock knockin'.

2005-01-10T13:36:00.000-06:00

man. on Praire Home Companion this weekend my old friend, Jana, and the Mila Vocal Ensemble she sings with performed with Garrison and Crew.

it was something else!

Mila used to be part of the Ethnic Dance Theatre group in Minneapolis.

they do some amazing things. being as true to ethnic traditions as possible, often right down to the thread count in thier costumes, schooling and entertaining audiences at the same time. i always admired the passion theses gals had about singing this really difficult style of music.

on the show this weekend they did some traditional European folk stuff, Bulgarian and Ukrainian, i believe. then later in the show they did some back-ups with Pat Donahue on a moving version of "Knockin' on Heavens Door", singing in Ukrainian!

yow! gave me goose bumps!

word is they have been invited back in the spring or summer sometime.

big ups Mila!

small person.

2005-01-08T16:47:00.000-06:00

i have been really into movies lately. i guess it's from being around Anne so much. she has seen every movie in the world it seems.

we watched "School of Rock" again recently, which is a recent discovery of mine and i love it. also rented "Control Room", "Coffee and Cigarettes", "Supersize Me", i watched "Annie Hall" for the billionth time.

Kate and i saw "Closer" the other night. now that movie really sucked! i don't know why i wanted to see it as a lot of people didn't reccomend it. i think i was getting it confused with something else as it was really bad and pretty pointless. reminded me of another movie, "Friends and Neighbors" which was another one about pretty girls that go out with asshole guys and sex and cheating and all that crap.

then last night i watched one that came out early last year that i just completely missed that i loved! it was the complete anticedent to "Closer", "Station Agent".

it is the story of a very short man, a dwarf i guess, who moves to this small town and makes friends with a couple of people and the relationships that evolve out of it. he lives in a train depot and becomes the focus of the town as he sorta, well...sticks out. i have never seen a movie where the main star was a small person(are there any others even!?).

it is a slow paced film with great characters and not too hard driving with any moral or anything but makes you appreciate the relationships you can have with strangers and having to relate to people as you walk through life.

stop already.

2005-01-04T14:56:00.000-06:00

"they dream of the sounds they heard from the transistor airwaves" is the title of the massive triptych painting i been working on for the last couple of months. i am having trouble with the firt part of it and finishing it. the more i work on it the more the rest of it gets sorta off balance and the more i screw it all up. i wish i had my old art professor, Bill Roode, looking over my shoulder as he used to, telling me "...stop already!".

in any case i am very pleased with it so far.

new year resolution.

2005-01-01T14:30:00.000-06:00

happy new year!

i spent new year's eve walking around the neighborhood. i find i run into different people, places and things everytime i venture around this little area i been living, between Hyde Park and the University.

i was looking for the new issue of Heeb magazine , it's got a cover story on the Beastie Boys, so i went over to Barnes and Noble on the Guadalupe drag. they of course did not have it.

but it gave me a chance to check out Texadelphia sandwich shop, which Sam swears by. it was alright, probably better if you are of the carnivorous variety. but it was good and it gave me a chance to get back to another ongoing photo project i have been slowly working on, a collection of pictures of kids giving me the thumbs up like the Fonz.

i am thinking a book for kids on the history of the Fonz, what he means and ways to guide kids to be "cool like Fonzie".(a line i cribbed from "Pulp Fiction")

i got this great picture and their Dad wasn't weirded out and didn't seem too worried about what i was going to use it for.

i walked back towards Anne's and happened upon some college aged dudes hanging out in the garage and playing music. there was a bumper sticker on one the cars in the driveway that said "salam"(in arabic), "shalom"(hebrew) and "peace". so i knew they were wit' it.

stoned(very stoned) soul grooves, rhyming(more like mumbling) on the mic and everyone was taking turns on assorted instruments, popping, clanging and banging. some of the guys were wearing big airtraffic controller like ear plugs. i started taking pictures of these cats. they didn't barely flinch and motioned to me to pick up an instrument. i took over on drums when the one guy got up to pack a bowl.

we threw down for a while, mashing up the disco, funk, reggae riddims and some old school hip hop beats. i hung out for a while with these guys. i can only remember Ron's name, but they were all really nice and invited me out with them to grab a Thundercloud and some afternoon soccer. i had to get back but thanked them for letting me play with them and they told me to drop by again sometime.

later, i decided to keep new year's chill, instead of meeting some peeps down on 6th, i went to dinner with Anne and Heather to one of my favorite spots since i been here, The Thai Kitchen .

always awesome, we talked to the lady that runs the place with her husband. i asked her if she had any folks back home and if they were alright. she said they are all fine and that her brother was on his way to the coast from Bangkok, only he couldn't get his car started to get there the day the tidal waves hit.

she wanted us to kinda eat quick as they were closing soon and wanted to get over to their other shop across town where they were going to celebrate. i told her i eat slow and that i "wanted to finish the year with a clean plate". it drove Heather nuts as i ate nearly every piece of rice one by one with my sticks.

later we went down the street to Nadine, Krista and Nathan's. they are a nice family. Nadine is two and she was sleeping most of the time. but there were some other peeps there. we had the record player going and Krista poured me a vodka in pomegranite juice.

i hung out with one of the guest's son, Daniel, most of the time. he is six and seemed excited about hugging his mom on new year's. i tried to get him to count down from 1800 when it was a half hour to midnite. he didn't really go for it.

instead i taught him how to play vinyl records and showed him which ones were the coolest. we choreographed a call and response drum session on a planter that was on the porch along with a karate dance that we did at midnite. he also did a dedication to Anne and Heather with the copy of Dolly Parton's "Jolene" that Nathan had in his stack. he told me about one of his favorite books "Around the World in 80 Days" but i explained it to him that this dude, Prince, was so bad-ass that he did it in one and that he should check out THAT record. Nathan didn't have it but we rocked "Purple Rain" for a while as it was always Anne and mine's favorite as well.

we talked about New Years resolutions and Daniel couldn't seem to come up with one. i told him he should stay nice to mom and not always play gamecube "until his finger hurt". he seemed cool with that.

i couldn't seem to come up with one for myself, except to do more yoga. it has been months since i have done it and i am probably pretty stiff and tight in my back. seems like an easy resolution.

the other resolution i thought of is a more general one i reccomend others to follow.

it is a choice between two: don't smoke cigarettes or make babies.

2004-12-31T19:22:00.000-06:00