headed to asheville

headed to asheville in moments. laptop is not coming with me.

celebrating our 1 yr anniversary, a month early.

i want to make xmen III part of our agenda. is that so wrong?

live at the henry fonda theater, los angeles (quickie version)

oh man, the shot fucking rocked tonight. it was 5 times better than the atlanta show. sorry atl, but LA knows how to bring it. and the band was in much better form, way more energetic, chad t was all over the stage. getting a sweet spot stage center, 10 feet back didn't hurt, either.

somehow the bouncer patted right over my camera and let me go. i credit my homemade camera case (a red wristband). so i got a load of great pics and video.

just a few pics. it's late. more to come.

patrick+ed+chad t+their touring guitarist

ed+chad t

the hills are alive

the hollywood hills


yup, 90210


it is so unbelievably lame to take pictures of street signs. but it's proof that i was there.



supposedly, she earned a part in scott's next movie



i think this is napster headquarters. or it's a pretty subtle billboard.

so many to choose

here are the bars that google maps lists near my dinner destination. can i hit them all? am i going to get my asked kicked for taking a picture of the whiskey a go go?

	Trubadour The 9056 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 0.1 mi SW - (310) 276-6168
	Mother Lode 8944 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 0.2 mi NE - (310) 659-9700
	Micky's 8857 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 0.4 mi NE - (310) 657-1176
	Trunks 8809 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 0.4 mi NE - (310) 652-1015
	Monroe's 8623 Melrose Ave, West Hollywood, CA 0.5 mi E - (310) 360-0066
	Norrris Karl MD 9201 W Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 0.6 mi N - (310) 859-8051
	Longevity Lounge 9201 W Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 0.6 mi N - (310) 859-8051
	Cat Club 8911 W Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 0.6 mi N - (310) 657-0888
	Whisky a Go Go 8901 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 0.6 mi N - (310) 652-4202
	Jaan Restaurant

in LA

well, just landed in LA and got to my hotel.

love picking up the extra three hours.

the temptation to blow off work is pretty strong...

hitting a bit of the town w/ dj scotty b tonight. pretty good chance of debauchery.

prom 2006--seniors rule!!!!!!!!!!

practically like being on the oc. except it's in atlanta. at buddy's gas station.

a few friday's ago, j-wat and i drove around the corner to get some frosty beverages. sitting in in the car while she ran in to buddy's convenience store, i noticed a hummer limo filling up at the gas tank. a crew in tuxes and gowns piled out.

j-wat and i roll over to see what's going on.

me: yall are looking sharp. are you coming from a fraternity formal?

no way. it's our prom! seniors rule!

me: yup, you're hanging at buddy's gas station. that is pretty sweet.

after high fiving all of them, i told i would be totally pumped if i could get a picture with them.

yo, this won't be on the internet, will it?

me: uh, of course not.

then they climb into their phat hummer limo. i've never been in one of these. i've got to see what it looks like

me: knock knock. yo, can i jam in your sweet hummer limo?

hell yeah, come on in!

j-wat and i climb and there's like 18 couples crammed in there.

it was pretty sweet. i gave a shout out for anyone who was graduating and going to emory, but there were no future eagles there. i also asked if anyone was hoping to go to duke but willing to settle for emory. no takers there, either.

seniors rule. class of 2006 forever!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this ride does not need any futher pimping

wintermute with the kids. i like the dude scamming a kiss, stage right.

j-wat was a big hit with the boys. fellas, she's way out of your league.

well, at least they posted it

surprisingly, my blog to live's tour site got posted. while they truncated a lot of it, at least they didn't edit any of the writing.

in my own little world, i'm kind of excited about it.

to my knowledge, it's also the first posting of the band's set list from this tour.

click here to see it (it's the second posting, under "dee," one of my alter egos).

a winning equation

$1 PBR + english premier league +walking distance = my new favorite pub in the hood

pacheen's rocks

it's where you'll find me for most of june during the world cup.

if i'm not there, check the brewhouse

blue jean baby, LA lady

going to LA for the first time ever next week. should be a good trip. hanging with none other than dj scotty b tuesday night. you know someone is important when:

1. they have their assistant not just answer their incoming calls, but place their outgoing ones, too. i get a call, "please hold for...ok, you're now on the line with..."
2. their assistant stays on the line for the conversation so we can respond to questions.

unfortunately, i'm missing the premiere for 'the break up.' since scotty and todd have done a bunch of vince vaughn's movies, it sounds like they're going to be down for the shindig. oh well.

and atilla hooked up tix to see live again wed night at the henry ford theater. nice. i've actually never seen a band twice on the same tour. am bringing extra batteries to get more movie on film this time. i sent 'friendsoflive.com' my blogging of the concert, including the compelete set list, but they haven't posted it. bastards. not sure that they will, considering that it's a fair and objective write-up, not a grundel-licking puff piece about how hot ed is and what kinds of cool poses patrick struck. i mean, overall, i still thought they rocked, i just didn't entirely agree w/ their song selection.

the rents arrive tomorrow. some nice meals and a movie will keep them entertained. my mom doesn't like outdoor activities and my dad doesn't like indoor activities (specifically, anything where he has to pay to get in, like museums, aquariums, etc). so that rules out a lot of stuff. on a family trip with mom, pops and katie, pops actually stayed outside while the three of us went into the charleston aquarium. "who wants to pay to see a bunch of fish? i've already seen fish."

mr. maquarium would not be impressed.

grey's

uhh, no hospital that i've ever been to has interns like the three chicks on grey's anatomy. 90% of the chicks i see in hospitals are roughly double my weight and half my height.

i'm wondering if nobf has an opinion on this. does her dude have fellow residents that look this good?

the season finale was good. especially meredith taking patrick dempsey to town in the patient room.

we need nature to cooperate with us

if this didn't hit so close to home it would be funny

click here: Will Ferrell - Bush on Global Warming on Transbuddha

beth hancock

since my blog typically ranges from banal to just plain dumb, i feel weird writing something that is actually serious for once. two mondays ago beth hancock, a friend from undergrad, passed away. beth was a breast cancer survivor. about nine months ago the cancer returned, metastasized, and spread to her liver. i hadn't been in touch with beth since that news. last week she passed away at home--it sounds like she was receiving pallative care at home.

the memorial service was saturday. weddings and funerals are those weird times when you catch up with people you haven't seen in a long time. the hardest thing was watching travis, beth's husband. they've been married only for several years. it's hard to imagine the devastation of losing someone like that.

everyone will miss you, beth.

songs from black mountain tour: live in concert at the variety playhouse, atlanta

the four founding members of live

ed

atilla and i hit variety playhouse sunday night. i know everyone raves about the tabernacle, but i still think the playhouse is the best place to see a show in atlanta. it's in a great neighborhood (as a matter fact, the one i live in) with a ton of character and has a much smaller, more intimate vibe. the tabernacle definitely has better acoustics, though.

anyway, to the show. atilla brings two of his boys from the big h. en route from chez wintermute we get hit by a tremendous downpour. half way through the sprint up euclid ave i decide that the brewhouse is too far and we settle for the euclid yacht club for pre-game beers and sandwhiches.

some dillhole named michael shapiro was opening. he had big muscles, i'll give him that. where on earth do they find these opening acts? i've heard better music at smith's olde bar on tuesday nights. it's not like live needs the opening act to sell tickets, for fuck's sake.

live hit the stage around 9:00 pm. for the life of me, i couldn't find a set list in the two weeks preceding the show (and i looked freaking everywhere). so here's the first complete list of live's set list for the 'songs from black mountain' tour:

1. Rattlesnake
   
2. Selling the drama
3. The river
4. Mystery
5. Heart and soul
6. Walk the line (johnny cash cover)
   
7. Wayne 's (new song)
   
8. Lightening crashes
9. Lakini's juice
10. Dolphins cry
11. I alone
12. I don't need no one
13. Show (new song)
14. Sophia (new song)
15. Water
16. White discussion
17. Iris
18. Beauty of gray
19. Shit towne
20. Closing Song (don't know the title)

ed dominates the stage, in fact almost to the exclusion of the rest of the band. the spotlight was on him for 99.99% of the show. a bit weird, considering that they're touring veterans, and that patrick taylor (their lead guiatrist) especially has a really strong stage presence.

anyway, earlier reviews had panned ed for jacking off the crowd, rubbing his nipples, and generally pandering to the non-existent teeny-bopper crowd. the crowd for this show was pretty much entirely 30 and up. given that demographic, surely some other fans found the virtual absence of songs from 'mental jewelry' disappointing. the one song from their first real album was beauty of gray, and it was probably the worst song of the night (just didn't sound tight, which sucks given that the rhythm is so syncopated for that song). no 'tired of me?' no 'operation spirit?' no 'pain lies on the riverside?' are you freaking kidding me?

and they played lightning crashes. that songs still sucks, ed.

but everything else rocked. ed kept the justin timberlake moves to a minimum. he moved around a lot, danced a bit, and high-fived the folks in the front.

in terms of song selection that i liked, 'white discussion,' 'iris,' and 'lakhini's juice' rocked big time. 'juice' is practically a heavy metal song and arguably my favorite live song of all time. wish they had played 'waitress' or 'stage.'

the johnny cash cover sounded great--ed introduced it as a "good cover of a great song." the new songs were pretty good, especially 'show.'

the structure of the show was a bit odd. the first set was 63 minutes. they left the stage for 2-3 minutes, then came back on and played for another 40 minutes. and then they left. it seemed like two separate sets, or just an unusually short set with an unusually long encore. i have to say, the last song sucked big time. ed suggested that the crowd sing along--some song i've never heard of (and neither had any of my four friends with me) that proved to be a weak finish on an otherwise rocking show.

anyway, it rocked. am hoping to catch them in LA in two weeks.

i got some video, too. still figuring out how to post it using google video.

atilla and his boys coming in from the rain

the whole crew

what awaits me upon my return to atlanta

our new foster doggie, leo.

i'd like to name him bibb fortuna.

read more about him here.

i love animals, contrary to popular (mis)conception.

live blogging from ny

just landed in ny. conference is at the waldorf, but alas, the Man said no way to staying there (the convenience factor did not carry a lot of weight).

so i'm at the courtyard.

had to get a steaming hot greasy pastrami reuben right away. with peach snapple. oh man it hit the spot.

have a freaking packed schedule. seeing two friends from undergrad this afternoon, the fam (six first cousins here) for dinner. investor conference all day tomorrow. dinner with cherry pie and then nightlife with bloodninja. hopefully he won't take me to any bridge & tunnel shite bars. thursday starts with breakfast w/ my old mentor at booz allen, a quick work call, and then coffee w/ the fine folks at seo (non profit organization with which i do some stuff). 1:00 flight back to atlanta.

big, big up to anakin for letting me crash with him tomorrow night, despite being in the throes of his last couple of papers/exams of his law school career.

full weekend

man oh man, what a full weekend. hit bucktown friday night. did a final final at the ritz. lots of old white dudes with their much younger call girls. weird scene. woke shaking off the hangover on saturday and discovered the making of star wars (the in-depth version) was on A&E. what could be better?

well, following it with an episodes vi-v marathon, that's what. tried out a new place, wahoo, saturday night with the the beaver clan. fell asleep on their couch at 11 playing battle of the sexes simpsons.

sunday included finishing the star wars marathon and then seeing live play at the variety playhouse. really good.

details, pics, carnage, and maybe even a video clip or two to follow.

brinker international makes not want to eat at maggiano's anymore (not like i eat at chili's anyway)

so this dude on entertainment weekly mentions chili's (the crappy restaurant) here

somehow someone at brinker (which owns chili's) comes across it and posts the idiotic response:

Brinker International- Thu, May 4, 2006 at 11:45 AM EDT

Brinker International is the premier casual dining restaurant company in the world and has received numerous accolades through the years for its outstanding performance.

We have been called the "mutual fund of casual dining" - stemming from our powerful and unprecedented portfolio of outstanding concepts which includes Chili's Grill & Bar, Romano's Macaroni Grill, On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina,and Maggiano's Little Italy.

Founded in 1975, we have grown to over 1,500 restaurants worldwide with 100,000 employees and system-wide sales approaching $4 billion annually.

Please refrain from using our Chilis name when comparing it to a fictional entity. Thank you. Please eat at our fine restaurants.

michael you dick!!!!!!!!!!!

holy shit!

ana lucia hits it with the redneck (i love her line: "tell anyone about this and i'll kill you." how's that for pillow talk) and then gets shot by michael?!?!?

can't say i saw that one coming.

and libby? oh man, just when it was getting good for hurly.

keep the surprises rolling. just might have to tune in for this week's lost podcast.

prediction: the others have walt. they're blackmailing michael to deliver certain people (locke? jack? the bald dude locked in the room?) in return for walt.

where every day is closing day

at the inman park parade, one float had a great home made bumper sticker lampooning atlanta's shitty new slogan.

"atlanta--where every day is opening day."

and it's everywhere. blaring from the tv at the gates in the airport (is running it every 4 minutes really necessary?). on banners downtown. on the welcome sign leaving the airport. at the braves' baseball stadium.

this new marketing campaign blows. inspired by las vegas' wildy successful "what happens in vegas, stays in vegas" campaign, the atlanta effort is limp and lifeless. in two years, no one will remember it.

no one i have talked to likes it. dallas austin's song that goes with the campaign is equally bad. a theme song for a city? ok, i like creativity, but the song is just plain bad. i think the conversation went something like this:

shirley franklin: hey dallas, can you write a song for our new atlanta campaign?
dallas: hell ya. i'm a hip hop mogul. this will be one bad ass song. i'll call big boi, andre, the ying yang twins...
shirley: ooh, well, we don't want to make it too hip hop. there's a bunch of white folks in the burbs that are scared of black people. i just barely got them coming back to the city to see movies at atlantic station. no real rapping. just some, you know, synthesizers and stuff. a dance beat.

as result, this watered down something-for-everyone crap instead appeals to no one.

i hate to just bitch, so i've come up with some suggestions:

• atlanta: the capital of the south
• atlanta: not as racist as the rest of the south
• atlanta: segregated by choice
• atlanta: blue city in a red state
• atlanta: making white flight all right
• atlanta: julia roberts is from here. kind of.
• atlanta: letting sonny purdue screw martin luther king jr's legacy
• atlanta: a pit stop for new yorkers before they retire
• atlanta: we don't really get the rest of georgia, either
  

trick picture

this picture from the inman park festival is pretty flipping sweet.

look at it quickly here



now look at it closely here


do you see the guy in the sombero on the white stallion?

yeah, i know there's tons of shit like this out there but i still find it fascinating.

inman park superheroes

the inman park festival went down this weekend. one of the better festivals in town, it's short on the crappy copper art and long on beer and weirdos. the parade summed it up perfectly. a young democrats float (very good) and no young republicans float (even better).

a lot of folks in super-hero costumes. i don't mean just batman or wonderwoman. i mean their own made-up superheroes. like Dark Briefs Over White Tights Man. Or Bug Man. Or...well, i'll let the pictures do the talking.

click here to see all of the pics.

black briefs man

...and his cousin, blue briefs man. lucky son.

bug man

batter man (or insulation man, i'm not sure which, but we had an electric batter mixer in his hand)

i think she borrowed the shirt michael jackson wore in his "i want to rock with you" video

klingon biker. sweet.

random sci fi guy. this guy might be my favorite b/c he reminds me of the kind of costumes my brother and i used to make as kids. rope together random stuff around the house in an attempt to pull together gi joe+luke (circa episode v)+buck rogers+transformers+aquaman.