Who Do We Have to Call...

to get more of these???

I realize Neil Patrick Harris is not a fan of the female anatomy. But a girl can dream, can't she?  

NOTE: Basically all of my childhood fantasies were about playing Doctor with this guy.

This Makes Me Sad...

If this works when you click it, I'm happy once more.

'Beached in the City of Lost Barnacles and Leeches'

Photos taken by my infamous Razor Phone. Sorry for the tinyness. When I finally clean my room & find my camera charger, I will deliver some legit stills. Unfortunately, not of this show:


There's nothing like a McCarren Park Pool show to get rid of a serious Sunday hangover. Although, a thanks is definitely in order to the HUGE Turkey's Nest margarita & the miniature sub par chicken empanada that escaped from a duffel bag only to make a new home in my empty half drunken belly. No matter the headache, this was a concert I had been looking forward to all summer. And as luck would have it, the last pool show I will ever attend-- sadly, my job is sending me out of town with no room for some Yo La Tengo love.


I've heard a million great things about Panther & Chin Chin, but I was busy having a little too much fun with water guns to really pay any attention to their sets. Not to mention, my love for the Slip 'n Slide and free VIP Dewars (thanks to my real life guardian angel-- and I'm not talking about Bernie Mac here, kids). My favorite quote of the day definitely came early from some dude who screamed out something along the lines of 'Nice white pants, asshole!' during the Chin Chin parade. Let's face it, we were all there to see the man himself-- Aesop Rock.


The crowd seemed younger than usual, and if I had to guess... I'd chalk it up to the heavy Myspace marketing blasts from the Aesop camp in the last few months. I'd say Mr. Rock, no matter how profane, could be considered a poetry teacher of sorts to the young ones. A few songs in, the beat to "Nightlight" dropped, and I had a mini-Jeff Tweedy breakdown. The lack of movement in the crowd was slightly unnerving. Immediately following, Aesop gave the crowd what they wanted-- his self proclaimed Vegas song, 'Daylight'. This was deserving of a phone call to my little brother, 13, who will come home from summer camp to a drunk dial message from his big sis.


The last time I saw Aesop Rock was at the small in comparison, Slim's in San Fransisco. The Pool substituted that intimacy for drunken madness, and Mr. Lif for a special appearance by El-P (who supposedly DJed at the Union Pool After Party-- maybe I had a few drinks too many, but I didn't see him in that fairly empty room). The soon to be a pool again was truly appreciated by the prolific hip-hoppers. That sentiment was brought to a bright & shiny light as Aesop yelled to the anticipating crowd, 'this is one of the best days of my career, right here'. It always feels good when the artist is just as happy as us to be there.


The 'After Party' definitely didn't live up to its promotion of 'telling Monday to shove it'. But, after hopping thru 3 Lorimer local bars to find Red Bull for my vodka, and some free pizza at Alligator Lounge, only to eventually find myself back at Union Pool... my Monday was definitely shoved.

As always, I had a wondrous time, and the sunburn to prove it.

Peep this for some real photo footage.

Secret Ingredients for an Early Thursday Buzz

1. Have a maximum of one beer at the Spring Lounge.

2. Walk for 10 minutes in the rain, until finally caving in to pay for a cab back to Brooklyn... even though you're only half a block from the J train.

3. Make sure the cab driver drops you off for a late dinner at Taco Santana.

4. Walk home, only to terrify strangers in your apartment with stories of your weekend escapades (see G-Rated version below).

5. Play some 2 Player Pengo at Barcade-- never to break 2500 points.

6. Stop for a Cheeseburger Deluxe at Bonita Bakery before climbing the 3 sets of dingy tenement stairs that lead to your exposed brick diamond in the rough of an apartment, crooked floors and all.

7. Ignore all of this, except for Step 5. Seriously.

Monday is the new Friday.

I'm still trying to piece together the events of the last few days. But, I've managed to hold on tight to the reigns of my high horse, thanks to Garment District apartment gems, shoes I gladly can't afford, and a meal made with love-- blessed, of course, by the 'mediocre comedy stylings' of Bernie Mac.

With that said, here's a brief (but not really) overview of the things I could actually repeat in a room full of strangers, which leaves us with a review of these good looking folks below & their first proper NYC show:

By sheer coincidence, a week before the beginning of what would become a drunken four day romp, I had been invited to a show by a band of a familiar name. Five years ago, Audrye Sessions were the stand out musicians in a large group of East Bay locals that entertained me at the time. And I must say, it was a true pleasure to hear the evolution of the Aud squad. They've ventured far past an abandoned airplane hanger filled with kegs of Fat Tire in Nowhere, California, to a serious Mercury Lounge set-- as well as The Music Hall of Williamsburg the night before.

Keeping all their good parts and trading in the rusty ones for some folkier sounds of the now on "New Year's Day", you could feel the Oakland love in the room. Those who stuck around after the show were treated by a delicious after dinner mint. A bit of intimate acoustic moonlighting at The Living Room by front man Ryan Karazija, who accompanied Mr. Scott Allbright of Poor Bailey with some music to kill yourself to... but in that really good 'if Conor Oberst & Patsy Cline had a baby' sort of way. The country twang of the guitar on "I'm Alright With You" was definitely cowboy boot approved-- namely by those on my own feet.

Looking forward to a New York City encore, fo' sho.

For a FREE download of Audrye's "Turn Me Off", touch me.

Preface

The avoidance of chronicling the episodic spectacles of my life on the interweb has gone on long enough. I'm at a point of over-saturation and I just can't help but want to share. Coming back to New York has been good to me, just real good stuff...

There will be magical stories to follow, I promise: