combustication

Keep checking Indymedia for updates on protests during the day, arrests, pictures and all that good stuff. People who are in the city working should join up for the A31 day of action.

I spent the whole weekend in Yonkers, specifically, in my dad’s garage shooting a music video for Man in Gray. I think it’s gonna look kick-ass, but it was a lot of work. The garage didn’t have air-conditioning, the power went out a few times, the set electrician got some glass in his eye and had to go to the hospital, me and the boys sweated off pounds of make-up, I had to miss the protest and we ran a wee bit late. Needless to say, I think the video is going to look smashing and it was an experience. A good one….really. Pictures to come up eventually.

More Music?! The Marks have their very own blog. Keep up with our exploits.

GOP and Strippers.

This is the best thing that has happened to me all day: The Exorcist (in 30 seconds with bunnies)

Courtesy of another kickass MP3 blog (this one based in NYC!): Mewsic.

Man in Gray is crossing the Hudson and taking over Hoboken! They will be aided and abetted by the unscrupulous boys of the Unsacred Hearts. Be there for the best rock ever.

Details!
Thursday, August 26
@ Maxwells
1039 Washington St
Hoboken, NJ
(201) 653-1703
w/ the unsacred hearts, Dan Montgomery, and The New Original Country Gentlemen
9pm, $7
ALL AGES!!!

If you haven’t done it already go over to Millwhistle and get a copy of Mary’s #1 Year zine. It’s good, it’s really good. I started reading it at an aborted Marks rehearsal since MiG did NOT bring the equipment back after Sunday’s show. Grrrrrr. However, #1 was great to read with some familiar stories and a nifty piece on another Mary Phillips a la New Yorker. I reread it on the subway this morning and give it full marks! Give her your $2!

In other news, after reading this article I almost thought I could like pigeons because these people seem to, but I still don’t.

The mouse has not reappeared. I think my meowing scares it off. Who needs a mousetrap?

Imagine that you are sitting in the privacy of your bathroom. You could be sitting on the toilet, the tub, the sink, whatever. You are minding your own business. Perhaps you ARE on the toilet when suddenly a gray thing scurries by and runs into a corner only to vanish. What do you do? If you are me, you scream bloody hell and jump off the toilet. Going to the bathroom in my apartment is now a frightening and complicated experience as I now have to start clapping and meowing to scare the little mouse away. Trust me, it’s not that funny at 4 a.m. OK, it’s pretty funny, but a very annoying thing to do.

You know, it’s supposed to be all relaxing and meditative and stuff, but when a girl gets shut out of a yoga class it makes her VERRRRY angry. ARG!!! The only good thing about missing that stupid class that just makes you bend in funny poses is that I went to the bookstore to research places to hit up in Montreal. Wooo.

Also, if you missed the BBQ last Saturday, fear not! Man in Gray is playing at the Delancy this Sunday and there will be FREE BBQ for vegs and non-vegs alike. FREE BBQ! But you do have to pay to see us, a small price for rock-n-roll fun.

We have appeared almost out of nowhere on a comp disc. Look at it.

Subinev has a new color scheme and slightly different layout with new pictures. Yum.

My upcoming trip to Montreal has caused me to find such great blogs as Said the Gramaphone, a brilliant mp3 blog (who also has a song up from fellow rockers The Song Corporation) and Goldkicks. I am very excited for cheese, wine and wandering the city and I would love to get another tattoo at the same place I got it last year, but I just don’t know what I want. Randomly getting a tattoo is a bad idea. Right?

But not doing what I’m supposed to be doing, of course. This weekend was insane. When I got back from vacation I completely forgot about everything lined up for this past weekend. There was the Sonic Youth show on Friday. I must admit, Webster Hall has a neat space on its hands if it can keep the airconditioning on and provide a suitable exit strategy. The smell of hipster sweat of the young and old was thick in the air Friday night and Thurston Moore being carried around by the crowd didn’t help matters. The show was amazing. I have seen them twice before and this performance blew those other shows away. The visuals were great, the sound crisp, everyone looked good on stage and more importantly, looked like they were having a kickass time. They played some old faves (Teenage Riot, Drunk Butterfly), as well as the newer stuff off “Nurse,” which worked quite well live. Yes, the feedback was intense and loooong, but super-controlled and Jim O’Rourke may be the best addition to any band ever.

Staying on the music route, Pixies tickets were bought for the 15th and 16th. Who are the opening bands?!?!

Saturday brought overcast skies and a BBQ in Prospect Park. At first, I was a bit grumpy when I woke up and almost wished for rain so I didn’t have to cook, but once I started prepping the 12-bean salad (that’s right), I was ready to party. Parents came down, badmitton was played, tons of food eaten and good times by all. Pics to come at a later date.

The Marks are gearing up their press kits and getting ready to take NYC by storm. In semi-related news, I noticed this on NY1 yesterday and there was a post on Gothamist about a girl skateboarder who got burned by a manhole cover in the East Village. This is why it’s relevant.

More vacation pics.

Sitting at my desk there is a view of our floor-to-ceiling windowed conference room and the brick wall of another building. There is also a view of another glassed-in office and another brick building as well as the gray skies of midtown. Both of these views are depressing and don’t hold a candle to the open skies of Wyoming. The good news is that being back in NYC allows me to go to the sold-out Sonic Youth show tonight. Wahoo!

Be warned, these pictures may make you extremely jealous.

Me and Slick. My trusty steed for the week.

Wide open plains.

Double P’s. Phil and Patch.

All in the family.

South Red trail.

Actually, at work again. I am back from my vacation out west (Wyoming) and to middle America (Missouri) and not too happy about it. Being back in New York is great, but being back at work is not. Oh well. It was a fantastic vacation full of horses, booze, too much food, beautiful country, amazing lightning storms, rattlesnakes and some saddle sores. Pictures to come later, but Phil should be putting some up by the end of the day (guess who didn’t go to work today?).

Back in town and already annoyed. How the hell did the Pixies pre-sale tickets sell out so fast? GAH!!! And they are playing with MISSION OF BURMA!

Man in Gray got an extremely kick-ass review. Thank you Mr. Martin.