This Life of Myne

stabbed.....

2007-03-27T15:06:00.000-04:00

this is how i feel today: i have been stabbed, in the left side of the chest between the 3rd and 4th ribs; with a strait blade that has severed the pulmonary artery and has punctured the left atrium of the heart.... a sharp pain lies within, the life slowly leaving......

I Love Shoes/Sneakers

2007-03-12T21:07:00.000-04:00

I love shoes, if you don't know me i love to get new shoes and sneakers as often as i can. in the past i have had trouble finding my size (13 EE) but since early 2005 i have been exclusively buying my shoes online from two stores with great inventory; ShoeBuy.com and Zappos.com. I love the fact that i can order a 100 pairs of kicks, and sort through em, and ship back the 98 pairs i don't like, all without leaving the house, no more finding a shoe i love @ the shop and then receiving total rejection from the clerk when they don't have your size, this was pure hell for me in China, you cannot believe what small feet they have there!!!!

Today i was going through my purchase history on Zappos, and i found that i was never issued a credit for a pair of shoes which i had returned, i bought the same show in a different color but i returned the other, so i call them up and they quickly look up the order and sure enough i was right, they promptly issue me a refund, and then the representative issues me a $25 off my next purchase, it was great, thats a better return then my crappy savings account @ 4% !!!

anyway it made my night that i found $150 ($125 + $25 coupon), just figured i'd share the great news with y'all. in short o love Zappos.com

ttyl

Gomez w/ Ben Kweller (Webster Hall 3/8/07)

2007-03-09T00:41:00.000-05:00

Tonight I had tickets to two shows, and well it kind of stunk because I only wanted to go to one of them, and bought the others out of haste. I got tickets to the Gomez show while in china, and I thought they'd sell out and I could flip a profit on this lousy show; the next show I got tickets for was The Walkmen down @ the Bowery, this show sold out, and it was the one I wanted to go to. I was able to sell off The Walkmen tickets and I’ll see them again in April when they are back touring with the Kaiser Chiefs. anyway, I headed up to Webster hall for the show, doors were at 7:30 and I was in no rush, cause well music was not my speed, I arrived around 8:15 and went to look to unload my two extra tickets, I stood out there offering my tickets away for free, I had no takers, so the friend I was with went and asked the homeless guy across the street if he wanted to come to the show for free, and to my surprise he took us up on the offer, it was so damn funny to see this guy walking around the venue, you just have to picture a homeless guy at a concert.

so I got to the main floor at around 9:00 and it was more crowded then I had anticipated, I mean I didn’t know that Ben Kweller was so popular, anyway I made my way to the Balcony and found myself a nice spot I can take pictures from, and stood through a dreadful Ben Kweller act, Gomez went on about 25 minutes late @ 10:25 and I like there latest album How We Operate , so I knew the song they opened with, and a few afterwards, hated all there acoustic songs, but the I rather enjoyed the non-acoustic songs. I left around 11:15 after I got fed up with the acoustic song they were doing, I figured I’ll cut my losses and get home early and get some well deserved shut eye.

anyway I am looking forward to the Tea Leaf Green and Birdmonster shows later in the month (3/24 and 3/31 respectively) and I really cant wait until Bonnaroo only 97 days left.... and I cant wait...

good night all

ttyl

PS: Pics will be posted when i am done processing them.

Elvis Perkins

2007-03-05T01:41:00.000-05:00

wow, this weekend started off alright, and it got progressively worse... i woke up on Sunday @ 3PM went to eat and drink, down a good bottle of red wine, and i was buzzed, i continued to drink, and drink and it was great. i visited my second set of parents, and it was nice to see them i haven't seen them since before i left for China. at around 7pm i headed to Williamsburg, to the Luna Lounge for the sold out Elvis Perkins show, and i was a bit skeptical about the venue at first, but once i got in it was better then i had anticipated, and it was very roomy for a sold out show, and the drinks were cheap. i went to the merch table and picked up the Ash Wednesday, i didn't want to wait to get it via amazon.

any way, Elvis Perkins took the stage and totally blew me away, the lyrics, his mellow voice, the harmonica, it just all came together really well. i loved his performance when i saw him back at CMJ and that was a showcase show, getting to see him preform a full set plus encore was a treat, and well if you have not heard any of his stuff, check out his myspace page and listen to a few tracks he has streaming there. ( http://www.myspace.com/elvisperkins )

i took a few pics, I'll post em when after i process them.

ttyl

Bonnaroo.......................107 days to go!!!!

2007-02-25T20:43:00.000-05:00

So, its official i am headed to B0nnaroom down in Manchester, Tennessee.

I got my tickets on Friday, and i am really looking froward to spending the weekend with 80,000 strangers, all gathered because of our common love of the music.

i hope to make a roadtrip out of it, and i will be sure to make a stop or two @ my favorite bar in Nashville, the Beer Cellar.

any way I'll keep you posted with details as they come to light.

here is the initial lineup, i am so psyched

Weddings

2007-02-13T02:57:00.000-05:00

edit: Drunk Post....

confused...

2007-02-05T03:18:00.000-05:00

how to approach the puzzles of life.... and which way to i go left or right?

Yes, my 1st show of the year

2007-01-30T01:25:00.000-05:00

alright; so my friend J calls me up the other night and says he might have an extra ticket to the
Peter Bjorn and John show @ the Mercury Lounge, so I am definitely in. I dig PB&J and the show was sold out before I had a chance to get a tickets, and its at one of my favorite venues the Mercury Lounge so its even sweeter. sure enough J came through and we went to the show tonight.

we got there late and the show didn't start on time, it got started about 45 minutes late.

The White Rabbits opened the show, and well i like what i heard, it sounded like a San Fran band, but the singing was mellow, so i guess it's there Brooklyn flair. anyway check them out @ http://www.myspace.com/whiterabbits

the next band up were the Born Ruffians out of Toronto. http://www.myspace.com/bornruffians

it was 11:15 and Peter Bjorn and John finally took the sage, it was an amazing set, they had some fun with the crowd, they have not mastered english yet, which made there talk in
between songs just funny, they'll have it mastered by the end of there US tour.

toward the end Victoria Bergsman and Lars came on for Young Folks . the place went crazy, and it was a fun show,
I'm happy i went, if you have not seen Peter Bjorn and John yet, go see them !
http://www.peterbjornandjohn.com/

anyway I have posted pics from the show up on my picture site (some below), and I'm
almost done with sorting and developing my pics from my trip 2300 down only 1300
left to go, so keep checking the site it should be done my mid February.

ttyl

I'm Back

2007-01-29T08:53:00.000-05:00

alright, I'm back from China. enjoyed my first weekend working, looking forward to my last 7 months of college. have a ton of concerts coming up, I'll be sure to keep y'all posted, and if you look over @ my picture site I have begun to post pics from my trip (www.gruen.smugmug.com).

Enjoy,

ttyl

Last night in China (Shanghai)

2007-01-23T14:14:00.000-05:00

boy will i miss this place, thanks to Sara, Fred and Tomer who forced me out of my hotel room and into some bar, where some Indian guy from Chicago kept buying us rounds because we were American, i truly do love free beer i appreciate it even more when i remember it the next day!!!

hit up Starbuck's for the last time in Asia, it was all good at 2 AM.....

again thanks to the J Crew for watching my back, and well i cant wait to see ya'll in NYC, well really i don't want to see all of you , but most of you would be alright.... you know where i', headed with this....

again i had a great time in china and i'll see ya'll stateside... NYC cant wait to go to a show.... and have a real lager.....

ttyl

Stateside..... wooooohoooo...I love hearing english!!!!!!!

one more thing

2007-01-23T08:46:00.000-05:00

just a quick stat:

on this trip i have taken 2,947 pictures with my dSLR and 600 pictures with my point and shoot. total amount of pictures taken on the my trip to china so far 3,547.

ttyl

Winding Down (Shanghai)

2007-01-23T06:51:00.000-05:00

Today my only day in Shanghai and all I got was miserable weather, but I had to go and see some of the city, it was my only day in Shanghai. we started off by heading to the Pearl TV Tower, went all the way up hoping to see the unbelievable Shanghai skyline from the vantage point of 1500+ feet, we got to the top and well visibility was only a couple of hundred feet, still really cool, but it would have been better on a clear day. after this we split into two groups, one went to the Shanghai Aquarium, and the other headed to the Shanghai Art Museum; I headed to the art museum, after all aquariums are similar and well I have been to a few, so I headed toward the arts. the museum is in an elegant building, I walked in and paid the 5 Yuan admission, there were 4 floors each a different exhibit, the first was a Photography exhibit represented about half the exhibit, I particularly enjoyed the Satire of the photograph entitled "Suicide" (below). The second level had some cool sculptures as well as some contemporary art; I just loved the sculpture “Baby Gay" by Livio Scarpella (below). the final two floors were a treat but I forgot to write down the artists I truly appreciated, and the main exhibit on the fourth floor was great, but again no name, but there were some great portraits up there, and well after 3 hours in the museum and looking at all I could, I went down to the gift shop, didn’t find anything of interest and exited the building. At this time it was raining so I ran down to Starbuck’s and had a refreshing hot drink, and headed out into the rain. I found myself aimlessly roaming I stumbled into a mall, and 6 others in search for the a red pair of Nike’s that my barber in Nanjing was wearing, but to no avail, and when I found others that I liked they didn’t carry my size (47). I wandered even more down Nanjing road, and well it reminded me a little of times sq, not as many lights but I was offered everything from watches to weed, and well it was all in the open the vendors did almost nothing to conceal what they were selling. I was tired I got into a cab and headed back to the hotel, I hope to enjoy some of Shanghai’s great nightlife this evening, but we'll see, I am wiped, and out of cash..... cant wait to be back stateside where i can make money to spend on beer and shows....

ttyl

Suicide by Man Ray

Baby Gay by Livio Scarpella

Winding Down ( Nanjing/Suzhou/Shanghai)

2007-01-22T06:03:00.000-05:00

Monday I awoke I bit before 5am and packed all my bags onto the bus, we headed to Suzhou and to a Garden there, I am all for gardens, in he spring, summer or fall, not winter were not a single plant or flower was in bloom, waste of time in my honest opinion, afterward we headed to a Silk Factory, interesting to see how they made it, but again not worth dipping in to the amount of time I can spend in a real city like Shanghai. I arrived in shanghai at around 5pm, (the direct bus route would have been 3+ hours, but our great driver seemingly got lost). I have about 36 hours to enjoy and take in Shanghai, I will head to the Bund (waterfront) this evening then take in some of the bars and other nightlife here in shanghai, tomorrow o will most probably head to the Pearl TV tower and the Shanghai museum of art, I will figure it out then,

ttyl

The Last Weekend in China (Nanjing)

2007-01-22T05:49:00.000-05:00

My last weekend in Nanjing was all right, but we were down two, and it was more quite then usual. Sunday was my last day in Nanjing I headed back to the area around Confucius Temple and bought some crap for peeps back home, and got some bootleg DVDs for the trip home. There was a farewell dinner at some fancy Cantonese restaurant Sunday evening, didn’t eat to much, but had plenty of beer to fill the void, it was nice to see everyone for one final meal before we depart for Shanghai.

ttyl

Huge Recap

2007-01-18T13:53:00.000-05:00

Ok well I have been offline for a bit, so here’s a recap of what went down in the last eight days.

So last Sunday I went to Shenzhen, the city right outside of Hong Kong, got there at night, and well hit up a bar and retired for the evening.

Monday morning we awoke early and headed over the border. Walked over the border then took a train into the city. That day I did some walking around, and I found this one area with about 200 bars, and well I must have had 50 beers, each at a different bar, all a different import form a slew of counties. I was totally buzzed walking up the stairs to the restaurant; it was about 2 miles of steps going up the damn hill, not an easy task while inebriated, but fun none the less. Went to some more bars I think that night and retired from the evening at some great hotel in downtown Kowloon.

Tuesday morning we headed Victoria's Peak, and the views were breathtaking. You are able to see all of downtown Hong Kong from there, and well as for pictures the Chinese smog really does not permit great shots. Getting to this city was great, mainly because English actually gets you around, and Cantonese is not a necessity. I had some shirts made up, and well my day was surrounded with eating and drinking, and well it was frankly just great. That night we returned to Shenzhen, I did my laundry, and retired early, in preparation for my early morning departure for Sanya.

Wednesday we have gotten to sanya, its sunny and 80. this is where I put down my camera and well spent 5 days on the beach and 4 night in a bar... great times.... I remember the days mostly the nights are all a blur...

Anyway I am back in Nanjing where it is sub-par weather, and the smog is present, went to the Nanjing zoo, where you can stick your hands in the cage and get a reaction from jaguars and other animals, lots of fun. Other stuff to do here in Nanjing....

Anyway, lost track of time and well this was one big update for ya'll I have taken well over 2500 pictures so far, and well I still have a week to go... I can’t wait...

ttyl

Day 8

2007-01-06T14:03:00.000-05:00

today i did nothing, i got up went to the park, walked around the lake, went back to my hotel and slept..... it was good to sleep for a change.

tomorrow i'll be headed to Hong Kong, really looking forward...

ttyl

Day 7 for real....

2007-01-06T13:54:00.000-05:00

ok this is the real day 7,

today i decided to just get on the subway with my camera in hand and take to a random stop, and well it was just all impulsive, i stayed on for 6 stops, when i got off i was just shooting pics, i was walking along the main streets and well there was not too much to take pictures of, so then i started dipping into the dark alleyway's, and wow, there were lots of people living in slum like conditions, and well they weren't fans of having their picture taken, they all smiled and happily let me shoot their surroundings. i was in awe that so many people live in slum like conditions, and well they were all happy, they all had a smile on their face, it was interesting from children playing to a old woman feeding her dog, nobody looked down.

i was so taken with shooting these slums, i just kept walking even after i put my camera down, it was spectacular to see all of it, i ended up getting lost and well it took me about an hour to backtrack and find my way back to the subway, regardless it was well worth it and i cant wait to see how my pictures come out.

i got back to the hotel, got ready for dinner, the girls cooked a storm, cant wait to have cooked food, and not packaged msg filled edibles.

ttyl

ok, have my days all wrong

2007-01-06T13:44:00.000-05:00

alright, it really feels like i have been here for a month, and well today was actually day 8.

i spent thursday shopping, we started off at Walmart, we got tons of fruit and other food, we also picked up luggage to take it back to the hotel, we got 2 carts full of food. afterward we went to get cell phones, took a while because of the language barrier, but we left with out much needed sim cards and were happy. we went back upstairs to do more shopping and well we spent the rest of the day in the mall and i can attest that there is not a single shoe store in there that had shoe larger then size 10, I'm a 13 EE and well i don't think i will be getting shoes while i am in China.
when we were done with looking around, we went to go look for the girls, we found em, but they took their time shopping so me and Tomer just popped open the luggage and had a small feast right in front of the escalator, all the chinese folk thought we were crazy westerners, it was fun to see their facial expressions.

we left the mall, and as we were headed down the stairs to the subway i caught sight of a Starbucks and well its been fill week with out my Starbucks and so we headed strati to there, the coffee sucked, and they didn't have any Venti size, but it was nicely arranged with plenty of room, in old fashion western style.

oh well thats all for today...

ttyl

Night 7

2007-01-03T12:02:00.000-05:00

ok so we all went out for Soribell's birthday (17) .

went out to some bar or another, we all had fun even those who did not drink, as always plenty of pics would ensue, but i have no decent net connection, so y'all will have to wait...

anyway, i think its time to learn to dance, and get over head-banging and moshing, oh well someday....

Nanjing is great, they beg white folk to enter the clubs and bars, its really quite enjoyable...

ttyl

Day 7 (Nanjing)

2007-01-03T02:44:00.000-05:00

We got to Nanjing, from the train went strait to the hotel, ate some breakfast, then headed to our rooms to unpack; we will be based here for the next 3 weeks or so. At around noon we as a group took a short walking tour of the local amenities, then split until classes start later in the day. I walked around, got some groceries I needed, then went to class, hope to go out tonight though.

ttyl

Day 7 (Xi'an-Nanjing)

2007-01-03T02:27:00.000-05:00

Today we headed out from the hotel at around 10am; we headed to the Tang Dynasty Art Museum, interesting artwork, not my speed though, spent time snapping shots of the roof moldings unique to the era. Afterwards we walked to the Buddhist temple, the White Goose Pagoda, again lots of pics, didn’t see any Buddhists though. It was a serene environment, filled with smell of incense and tourists, and no Buddhists monks in their signature bright orange garb. They had a nice basketball court though. I walked up to the top of the pagoda it was well a view from 7 stories, nothing special not worth the walk up seven flights of stairs. Outside the Pagoda there were well planted gardens that were not in bloom so they were a bit dull looking, probably really picturesque during the spring and summer. We left the pagoda and headed to the Great Mosque, I didn’t go in, but right outside there was a shuk, similar to the Arab shuk’s that are indigenous to many middle eastern countries, but the odd thing bout this one was there was no Arabs, but the same small and dark alleyways where vendors are selling crap, interesting and fun.

We left the area of the great mosque and headed back to the train station, where a 14 hour train ride to Nanjing (Nanking) awaits us. The train was nicer then on the ride to Xi’an, and no one was doing any heavy drinking this time around, it was a pleasant and enjoyable ride, got to sleep more the on the previous ride. Looking forward to Nanjing, no more constant touring; yes a place to rest up.

ttyl

Days 1-6 (Beijing – Xi’an)

2007-01-03T02:16:00.000-05:00

I have been here in china for a few days, and I have been unable to post due to lack of net access.

I arrived in Beijing Friday morning, and went strait to the hotel, the group all went out and the Sabbath observers stayed back, and enjoyed dinner with each other company.
Saturday came and went, it was spent sleeping, and getting over the jet lag.

Saturday night I took a cab to meet up with the group and met them at the Peking Opera, interesting, not my cup of tea, but to keep it short interesting and different.

Sunday we woke and headed down to breakfast, and it as still snowing, we headed from the hotel directly to the Great Wall, and it lived up to all my expectations of being a wall, it was an old wall, and extremely slippery due to the snow, I went up to the fourth tower and turned back. It was a great scene, I met people from countries all over the world, all of western Europe, but not England there was a small group from Ireland though; Australia, Singapore, Canada, and lots of folks back from the states.

After that we headed to Summer Palace, it was really nice and it would probably be even nicer in the summer. The frozen lake, and snow covered palace was serene, I have plenty of pictures, I’ll post them when I have a more steady internet connection.

After Summer Palace we started off to the train station to take the 12 hour train ride to Xi’an, we spent new years on the train it was an interesting place to get wasted. Anyway we arrived in Xi’an and we went to the hotel to eat and freshen up after the long haul, then we went to see the Terra Cotta warriors, in short it a bunch of toy soldiers, I really did not appreciate it all. After all it is nothing breathtaking, I have seen more toys in Toys R’ Us. We headed back to the hotel that night and I walked around lots of bars, lots of clothing stores that were mobbed, interesting city, hit the sack early.

ttyl

Pre-China

2007-01-01T20:05:00.000-05:00

As I sit here at the gate waiting to board I sit and for the first time ponder, why am I going to china? I really have not given much thought to this trip I am about to embark on. I am not really coming up with any clear cut reason in my mind as to why I am headed to china. All I can do is march forward and see what fate has instore for me.

It is times like these I truly to appreciate the spontaneity that brings me to the not too rational yet still immensely enjoyable. Well I must tell myself that it will be enjoyable and judging by what I have heard from friends who have mad the same journey in the past, I will have a great time.

I sure do thirst for a drink, it’s a good thing I am flying with one of my best friends, we arranged to sit right next to each other after we met at the airport, and he didn’t mind sitting in between two people, and not getting a window or aisle. he is one of my friends who I really do value our relationship, he is someone I can look up to and confide in, a true friend. It is a pity he will only be able to come on the first three or four days of the trip, but I’ll settle, its better then no one at all; and to all my friends and family who are wondering who this friend is, you all should know him, or even met him he goes by Jack D.

ttyl

hey hey hey, I'm back

2006-12-18T17:55:00.000-05:00

ok, so its been about 3 weeks since my last post, the hardest half of finals so now i'm ready to post again, getting ready for my trip next week, but well along with finals there are two shows that just tied up the season that are worth a mention.

the first is the 2nd season of Sleeper Cell, (airs on Showtime) the cast is back and well it was really nice to see Michael Ealy, and Oded Fehr go at each other on screen. this season as great as it was, and as much as i appreciated it, was not as good as the first season, but it sure does have one hell of a great ending.

the next show is also a Showtime production, Dexter. it is a captivating story line, with one of my favorite actors Michael C. Hall (Six Feet Under). His great acting ability really shines through here, he plays so many different personalities in this show, it is truly amazing how he has mastered each part, dark, sadistic, loving, murderous. This is one dark show, but it captivates the audience, and keeps you on the edge of your chair just wanting to see how far it goes. I really cant wait for the next season, or for the first to come to DVD, this will be a must have season, i cant wait to see all the cast interviews, or the director's commentary, they have some of it up on Showtime on Demand, but all it does is whet my appetite for more, and i cat wait for the DVD so i can immerse myself even more into the storyline.

oh well next posts should be cheerful, the holidays are coming, i cant wait, i have a couple of weddings and a bunch of parties, and there's a music festival in the city that i plan to hit up, so it will be a great week ahead.

ttyl

Wolfmother

2006-11-23T02:44:00.000-05:00

Ok, sorry about not posting in the last few weeks, it’s been hectic...

Went to a Bob Dylan Tribute show with a killer line up, @ Lincoln Center, it was great.

Anyway, today I spent my day in the city, I went to the Chinese consulate here, to pick up my visa for my upcoming trip at the end of next month (I'll be blogging my china trip, while I’m there for the month)

after that, went to the gap, and got a scarf b/c I was cold, and well its a nice scarf, but is like 6 feet long, quite impractical...

I had another concert tonight, and needed to kill time, so I went to see a movie, James Bond: Casino Royal. it was a fun movie, but unlike the past Bond films, its ending was left open, and well apparently it continuation is already in the works... that will probably be quite a poor production, we'll see....

So I left the film at around 5:00 and went acr
oss the street to Hammerstein Ballroom, and well doors were called for 6:30, and the first band was to go on at 8:00, but there was already a huge line so I got onto it... then it started raining... I got in around 6:40 and went to check my coat and went into the main area, and well it was crowded, I was about 5th row, a bit upsetting, being that I was out there for 90 minutes or so, and did not get my spot up front.

the first band on was Dead Meadow, and it seemed like nobody liked me, and well I didn’t either, but I brought my new camera, and I was testing out settings and what not so I didn’t care how bad it was, I was occupied.

The next band on was Silversun Pickups, and I loved them, they just got up there and jammed, it was cool, hard and enjoyable. There was a great drum solo in the last song they preformed, and well who doesn’t like a good drum solo....

Wolfmother went on at around 9:50 and well I had my camera out, but apparently the crowd decided this was great music to mosh to, and well I quickly put my cam back into the case just in time before I got shoved. This worked for me, because I was able to push my way into second row, and the first row was not going to budge so I remained second row for the set. Wolfmother as great as their album was they are ten times better live, they really know how to perform, and how to out on a performance, it was out of this world.

well two more thing that are worth note, while waiting for the first band to go on, some one blew up a condom and was tossing it around like a balloon, and that’s not the fist time I saw this, it got the entire crowds attention, and it was funny to see 500 or so grown adults go so crazy over a balloon, it was a sight to see.

the next not worth incident was during the Wolfmother encore, this dude kept on elbowing me and the guy next to me and well it was really annoying, and as much as we hit back he didn’t stop, so we both went down and boosted over the security gate, it was a great way to deal with the problem, and I was laughing after the security guard caught him... after this I wiped out my cam for the final two songs and snapped like a madman, hoping to record some memory of the show, and of the band. (Here are two shots I liked of Wolfmother)

ttyl

EDIT: well i made a mistake on which opening bands i liked and disliked, in fact i did like Dead Medows, who went on second, and Silversun Pickups went on first so indeed did not like them.
Thanks Shtnstar

have another choice too make

2006-11-07T01:54:00.000-05:00

ok, I will be getting a new camera bag for all my new equipment

i decided on the bag, but more importantly i need to choose a color, it comes in 4 colors, black, brown, blue, red

i am leaning toward red or blue... what do you think is red not really what a guy would be carrying around?

help all....

Thanks,

ttyl

Forgive me father for i have sinned....

2006-11-03T05:59:00.000-05:00

forgive me father for i have sinned, it has been 3 hours since my last confession, I have spoken slander against an innocent parties....

ok enough of that, strait to the punch, i have been quite mistaken, not thinking back to the Piano's show on Halloween....

the bands Monsters are waiting and Irving deserve a second chance. well I was thinking about the other two shows i went to this week, one at the Bowery the other at Nokia, and both of those venues have huge stages, something Pianos does not have, so there performance could have been marred by this fact, and well the music was alright, and i will defiantly try to catch them at a larger venue, in the near future.

on the same note, I have seen Birdmonster tear it up, in the smallest of venues, Knitting Factory Tap bar, that is a room that could hold 60-75 people!!! and they rocked that show... then never have a problem in small places.... such a great group..... you all have to go see them, they are playing both Friday and Saturday, check out their myspace page for details www.myspace.com/birdmonster

ttyl

Alice in Chains - Nokia Theatre - NYC

2006-11-03T02:49:00.000-05:00

wow, day three of CMJ, i did not attend any CMJ today tho... had more then my fill in the last two days!

wet to see Alice in chains, Tickets cost a allot, but they were well worth it. i went with 3 friends, and we got there early enough to get front and center stage, we waited for 2 hours or so until Alice in Chains went on, Hurt opened for them.

Hurt - this is a easy review, they suck, i hated them. and their sound was way messed up and uneven coming out of the monitor. and well it was tough listening, it was like being held hostage knowing that if i left i would lose the stage position i came early to get... hate when that happens.

Alice in Chains - let me start by saying that William DuVall is in no way ever going to be able to replace the late and great Layne Staley. with that being said, DuVall was superb, and well Jerry was jerry, and he put on one hell of a show along with band members Mike Inez on the bass and Sean Kinney on the Drums. it was great to hear them live and they did a 2 hour set, and about 40 minutes of that was an acoustic set. i am not a fan of their acoustic work, but it was good nonetheless. grunge is dead, but it will always rock!

i was front and center, and through out Hurt's set it was alright, but once Alice went on it turned into hard work holding my spot, and not being pushed back, or getting hit in the head by a crowd surfer. but it was fun with the exception of one fat drunk belligerent ass hole who i kept on elbowing in the chest and face, because he kept on hitting me and trying to push be back, he didn't stop, but some other got in between us toward the end, so i was able to really enjoy the encore.

after the show we met up with others from college who also attended the show, we took the train back together, i didn't fall asleep on the platform or the train this time!!! went out for a bite when we got back, and now i am writing this...

gonna do some HW now and get to bed,

took some great pics of jerry and the gang, will post em up with the others from this week over the weekend, but for now here is one of my favorites from the evening

Jerry Cantrell

ttyl

the best concert i have been to this year!!!! (CMJ Night 2)

2006-11-02T05:41:00.000-05:00

The best concert I have been to this year!!!!

Ok I had another great night out, CMJ is still young, and on night two of CMJ I headed down to the Bowery Ballroom, to hear an amazing lineup

-What Made Milwaukee Famous
-The Bird & the Bee (Inara George)
-Robbers on High Street
-Elvis Perkins
-Dr. Dog
-Cold War Kids
-Tapes N Tapes

The show started with "What Made Milwaukee Famous" they took the stage at 7:00pm sharp the show ended with the "Tapes N Tapes" leaving the stage at 2:00AM. This was a damn long show, but worth the $20, and for such an amazing show.... I am quite pleased.

I went to this show initially for Tapes N Tapes and Cold War Kids, because I saw them back in June and they rocked. Dr. Dog I saw open for The Raconteurs they were so/so then, but tonight they were amazingly fun to watch, the music wasn't that great but allot more entertaining then the previous show. I was also looking forward to seeing Inara George, cause she has one great set of pipes, I mean her music is so not my speed, but she is so talented, she is a great listen, check her out on itunes.

Anyway, it’s late once again, so I am gonna go through the bands quickly

What Made Milwaukee Famous - here from Texas, they are not an indie band by any means, more like the killers, heavy synth and pedal usage. They sounded fine, and they were a blast to watch,

Robbers on High Street - I saw the set, and I remember I liked it, but really cant remember all that many details about the set... it was the second set of the night, and well it was a really long time ago. Bummer I should start bringing a pad to these shows... I think I will.

The Bird & the Bee - Inara George and band... she is only of note, and well her slow melodic tunes were great listening, way to slow for my liking, but wow, I love to hear her sing even if I don’t like the song!!!! She is that good, I spoke with her briefly after her set, and she said she's opening for Sia later this month, so I will definitely check that out, not because I like their music, but because Inara and Sia are both extremely talented vocalists whose talent I most certainly appreciate. Her set was 45 min or so, and well I enjoyed here solo more then when she had the backup vocalists in the song.

Elvis Perkins - this was a most welcome surprise, I have never heard them before, read about them on blogs and such, but never really listen to any of their material, but wow what a great band. I really enjoyed their extended set, they even did somewhat of an encore, and it ran about an hour the set,

Cold War Kids - they did the same great set last time, I still enjoyed. They have refined their stage antics, so it’s quite a fun set to watch.

Tapes 'n Tapes - a great band, but by the time they got on they were told to cut the set in half, they only did a 40 min set, and it was great, and surprisingly they did allot of stuff off their EP's, last time they just preformed their album, so it was nice to see them change it up.

what really made the night was that all the bands had all the bands on stage at one point of the set, Elvis Perkins had Dr. Dog and Cold War kids on for 2 songs, and all the bands kept on coming up and going wild, and it made the show quite enjoyable.

Anyway I will for sure go and see Elvis Perkins again, as well as the Tape n Tapes and Inara George. The rest of them well I’ll most probably see them open for one band or another over the next couple of months, so I will see them again also...

anyway I was so wiped after the set last night, I went down to D line back on Grand st, and well I caught the D over the bridge to DeKalb and I needed to transfer to a Q, and well I fell asleep on the platform... it was a good 40 minutes or so, not terrible, I stood up and waited for the next Q, I got on and the next thing I know, I woke up in Coney Island, way past where I was supposed to get off, I got off the train and well waited for the next Q back the other way... that was another 20 minutes, and it started to rain about now at 3:40 or so, I did not get home until a little after 4:00 AM, and well for a show that ended at 2AM I had a nice sleep adventure, sleeping in as many public places as humanly possible... wow what a night, happy to be home.... worm and dry, ah yes dry....

Anyway, got a photo show tom and Friday at the Javits Center and an Alice in Chains show tonight.... going with a whole bunch of friends... can’t wait... just hope I get home before 2 this time.... I need some quality sleep this week.

Yea I took like 300 pictures there, and well I had another case of gear envy, lots of canon’s tonight, the main lens I saw was the 17-40mm L lens, a real nice lens, not for concerts, unless you have a good flash, which they all did. My gear envy was quelled when I started talking to this photoropher taking pics for Playback and we were discussing Glass and other picture details in general for shooting a canocert in low light, and he was shooting with a Nikon D200, that’s a real nice camera, but he told me that the Canon XTi that I have would do a fine job, I just need to use a wide open lens and bump my ISO all the way up, it kind of gave me the confidence to shoot a show, not Alice in chains, but if I go the next Sia show I’ll shoot that, why not…. Anyway, it was nice standing front and center stage, as always, but until Tapes n Tapes got on there was an imaginary photographers trench, it was like the audience gave all the photographers about 2 feet and they all moved back it was kind of cool, watching the photographers work was a bit distracting for me, cause I like to see what they shoo with, cameras and glass, I mean one guy was shooting with a 70-200mm f/2.8 IS, and it is open enough, it is too big to be shooting with when you are 10 feet from the subject…. Whatever nice piece of glass anyway. Regardless, I will post pics over the weekend, have no time to post and edit this week, too much going on.

ttyl

Wow, another great night out (Halloween 2006)

2006-11-01T02:35:00.000-05:00

I don’t know wear to start...

For starters it is Halloween, so freaking awesome, costumes, parties and CMJ; it doesn’t get better then that, three great things....wow

So tonight; the first night of CMJ I went to Piano's NYC and saw Run Run Run, Monsters Are Waiting, Birdmonster, and Irving.

Run Run Run - there music is alright, there presentation was good, didn’t like there costumes per se, but they tried. Anyway back to the music, Run's style is just another band, nothing spectacular, yet entertaining. I won’t be running to go see them again.

Monsters Are Waiting - they were not in costume as far as I could tell. their music rocked, it was fun and enjoyable to listen to, the crowd was really into it, but the lead singer Annalee as talented as she is very frustrating seeing her perform, she was really into the music and all, but she looked like she was on meth and was really weirding me out, I started laughing every time I took a glance at her. But I will definitely keep my tabs on this band, but never see them live, the music rocks but I can’t look at Annalee again, just cant bring myself to do it.

Birdmonster - you know how much I love this band, this was the fourth time seeing them live this year, and well this show was great but the acoustics in Piano's were not too great. But Peter and the gang rocked it up, and it was great to see them again, and I finally got my pic taken with the band. on a side note, Birdmonster packed the house, the first too bands didn’t get a huge crowd, and it was really empty when Irving came on, Birdmonster was really great, and well you all have to go see them.

Irving - I liked their style, and the music was good, but their stage presence is non existence, toward the end of the show, Steven Scott got into it but for a band with 5 members, they should all be into it, great music, but again not a great band to see live, even though they perform well.

so I finally got my self the dSLR I have been yearning for, but didn’t bring it to the show... but at the show I was talking to all the photographers, and asking what lenses and settings they were using to get great shots... and the first thing that I noticed is that the bulk of the photographers were using canon dSLR's and all of em, a 30d, 5d, EOS-1, but no Rebel's... a but discouraging, there was a fast array of lenses being used, and most of them were zooms, there was a Sigma 18-125, Canon 17-40 L, and others, but no Primes... also discouraging because I just got the rebel with a 30mm prime. Oh well, I’ll make due with what I have.... not much of a choice anyway. I have a serious case of Gear Envy.

So one of the photographers I was talking to is worth mentioning, only because she has really shot lost of bands, and has a reputation... Piper Ferguson (www.piperferguson.com) check out her site, she her works, she said she was shooting for Spin Magazine, so I thought that was kind of cool.

lastly I am kicking myself for not getting a CMJ badge, its a real pity, I mean it was like $275 and well its 5 full days (12pm - 2am) of music, oh well next year, but I am most defiantly going to go to SXSW 2007, in Austin, TX. I just need to convince a friend that SXSW is worth missing a week of school for. Not so much, as convince rather find someone who is as in to the live music scene as I am.

It’s amazing, I have been a concert junkie for the last 9 months and well I still have yet to find someone to go to shows with me. I seriously need to find another concert junkie... the intermissions can get extremely boring...

I’ll post pics tom or probably after the weekend, just really tired, sorry for any typos or incoherent ramblings, its 2:30 and I need some shut eye,

ttyl

wow, what a day..... thank god its over

2006-10-30T21:17:00.000-05:00

well i had two midterms today, one in Audit and the other in Philosophy.

i was a bit nervous when i woke up, cause i didn't do any real studying for either test...

then... while i was running for the bus and while i was running to escape oncoming traffic my iPod nano dropped out of my pocket, i stopped on the double yellow lines.... but it was too late to go and save it, an oncoming Ford Explored went right over it, iPod and all, i run back after it gets run over to see if my baby was ok, and sure enough it was still playing the same song it was when it fell!!!! i was so happy, it only sustained some major dents but no scratches, so now i have a funky looking iPod nano... it truly is a great MP3 player..... Thank god for Apple

CMJ is here in less then 24 hours i cant wait!!!!

wow, i have no life.... but i LOVE music..... who doesn't

2006-10-29T23:00:00.000-05:00

hey, remember back about 6 weeks ago the New Orleans Saints first home game in a bit over a year, yea yea, well two bands that i love got together and preformed a song together, it was U2 and Green Day and they played "The Saints Are Coming, which was originally done by the skids.

well i purchased both songs today, the Green Day & U2 version on Rhapsody and the Skids version on allofmp3.com. and i listened to both versions like 50 times, i don't know why, but i just like listening to it over and over again... its soo odd... i should be doing some pre-listening for the 5 concerts i will be attending this week, but i just keep getting this damn song in my head...

oh well i feel better now... needed to rant for a bit....

TTYL

Wow what a great short

2006-10-25T04:01:00.000-04:00

its late, but i had to tell you guys bout this amazing short i just saw... have a look its only 2 minutes long. so dark... yet so damn witty!!!

Pics from the Last 2 Shows

2006-10-24T01:41:00.000-04:00

Oh my, I have forgotten to post the pics from the last two shows so here you are,

on the same not, I cant wait for CMJ to get here, 5 days of kick ass shows!!!!

anyway have to get some shut eye,

ttyl

Yonder Mountain String Band

Yonder Mountain String Band

Yonder Mountain String Band

grizzly Bear

grizzly Bear

TV on the Radio

TV on the Radio

TV on the Radio

TV on the Radio

TV on The Radio

2006-10-19T02:30:00.000-04:00

its been a very busy week, and i know i still have not posted any pic from the yonder show... but i promise i will over the weekend

but tonight i was able to kick back and go to a show, TV on The Radio @ Irving Plaza.
I got to Irving plaza at 8pm sharp, there was a line to get in, but doors were opened promptly at 8, and i took my spot front and center stage.

The Grizzly Bears opened at 9, i loved their sounds not too hard and most similar to radiohead, but not a copy just similar. i am gonna get their album.

TVOTR was great, they did a 90 minute set, and well i am gonna cut this one short, b/c i am so damn tired, all i am gonna say is that i am really happy i went to the show, it was both relaxing and enjoyable, and TVOTR fucking rocks!!!

anyway, i just got an email that Beck is playing an acoustic show down @ the Bowery this sunday!!! i might just go.... i cant wait....!

ttyl

Yonder Mountain String Band

2006-10-13T02:02:00.000-04:00

I just got back from the show, and wow am i happy i got the email about the show.

i first saw em as one of the opening acts for Dave Matthews @ Randall's Island, but tonight they headlined their own show, and it was a double set!!!! i got there at 7 and the place was empty, it didn't fill up till round 8 when they got on stage, i was able to stand front and center and had plenty of room, it remained that way for the whole show.

the first set was about an hour and it was amazing, then we all ran to watch the Mets kick ass in the playoffs till Yonder got back on stage for the second set, which lasted 90 minutes or so, they played all of their great songs in this set, not to put down the first set, but the second set just blew me away! the did two covers in this set, the first was the second or third song in, was "Dear Prudence" by the Beatles, and the next was the encore it was "Good Bye Blue Sky" by Pink Floyd. its cool to do a cover or two in middle of your set, but as an encore i think its extremely lame, i mean i like to leave the show with the artists music in my head, but i left this show with the music of Pink Floyd, not that its a bad thing, I just don't like it. All in all the show rocked.

i am not a fan of bluegrass, or maybe i am, I love there music some of there songs rock hard, and some of em are as mellow as some of Elliot Smith's material. i wold defiantly see em again, even if they are not headlining.

now i found out something very disturbing in middle of the sets, this October 31st, the greatest day of the year after Christmas, i have tickets to see Birdmonster, and i have seen em twice already this year, but they rock and i love the band, but i was told that Medeski, Martin & Wood are playing Hammerstein Ballroom the same night, so now i have to decide which show to go to.... its a tough choice.....

After the show i headed uptown to meet some DJ who bought my extra Killer's Tickets, then i went home....

as always i will post pics when i get a chance...

This month is gonna rock CMJ is in 3 weeks and i cant wait, a whole 6 days in a row of great music in NYC, and i will be there for most of it...

so far i got tix to
Birdmonster/ Irving - 10/31 - Piano's
Tape 'n Tapes / Cold War Kids - 11/1 - Bowery Ballroom
Alice in Chains - 11/2 - Nokia Theatre

and during the day there are free shows throughout the city that i will be hopping around at... wow i am like a kid in a candy shop, i am so damn excited....

ttyl

hey hey hey, i'm back

2006-10-04T18:05:00.000-04:00

hey folks how you all doing this evening.....

Anyway, went out last night, first the student Gov't had free food and damn the steak was great....

Got a new phone, the new blackberry, really sweet cant wait till it comes, the Blackberry Pearl...

went to some party later in the evening, it was called for 9PM which was way to early for a party, i showed at ten drank a little, met a few peeps, kinda fun, but i didnt drink enough, oh well fun nonetheless....

today great news came in, one I am Going to see Tool tomorrow in CT a friend of myne cant go, so I am really looking forward to it.

then i logged on to the web, went on to Birdmonster's myspace page, and sure enough they are coming back to NYC and well I have seen them twice in the last 6 months but they are so damn good, and even better live!!!! so messaged them online, and they say they will be showcasing some new material, so I am really looking forward to seeing both Tool and Bridmonster, and wow never thought that I’d say those two bands in the same sentence... but they are both damn fine bands.

that’s all till after the show....

ttyl

The Raconteurs

2006-09-27T21:25:00.001-04:00

So yesterday i took off of work, went into the city on a hunt for a suit, I hit up three shops on yesterdays attempt, Macy's, Sym's and Lord and Taylor. Not a single store had a suit that fit me, not a single one!!! Where the hell can I find a place to buy a suit? I am not overweight, what’s the deal!!!! All the damn size 44 suits are made for fat fuckers, seriously,

anyway after that I went to a concert, The Raconteurs; Jack White's side project. and in true Jack White fashion the Raconteurs rocked the house, Dr. Dog opened for them and they were so/so I mean it was just another indie/rock band, I was not too impressed. The Raconteurs did there whole album, and covered Sonny and Cher's "Bang Bang", the song was arranged marvelously, and the performance even more stellar. The encore was Steady as She Goes and my personal favorite of theirs; Blue Veins, in the midst of this song Jack white went into a great 4 minute guitar solo,

after that the show was over, as I was leaving me and a friend were discussing the show, this guy behind us all dressed up in a suit and all, he starts talking to us, about the show, and about how he gets into all the shows for free because he is a friend of a few of the security crews who work the concert circuits in NYC, lucky bastard, he invited us to follow him to the Nokia theater, but we didn’t know who was playing and I was tired, I am kicking my self now, because Knarls Barkley was there with David Bowie guest appearing unannounced, oh well, my loss...

Anyway as always, a few pics

ttyl

Dr. Dog

The Raconteurs

taking 19 credits is hard

2006-09-26T02:25:00.000-04:00

Yea I'm taking 19 credits this semester its really tough.... I just finished watching Cheech & Chong's: Next Movie (1980) wow what a bad movie, but so damn funny @ 2am... probably more funny if i was inebriated.... oh well next time...
can't wait to get my grades in January, lol

ttyl

2006-09-21T00:28:00.000-04:00

its been a while since i have checked in, so here's the lo down on the past week or so

i went to see The Who preform live at MSG here in NYC, i took my dad along with me, it was his first concert, i think he enjoyed it...

anyway it was amazing to sing Pinball Wizard ans other songs along with the band and 20,000 fans just like me. I got a good pic or two at the show before security ushered me on. (on a side note is it worth it to shell out $1500 on a dSLR to take along to shows?, i use a sd600 now, and it really cant handle the lighting, i also have an S2 IS, but same issue. need feedback on that one)

the rest of the week was pretty standard, class, work, gym, sleep, i know very routine, but such is life.

looking forward to seeing the Raconteurs on Tuesday.

oh well thats all for now,

ttyl

wow what a night....

2006-09-15T04:40:00.000-04:00

it started with me getting my new ipod nano 8GB 2G and its awesome, so awesome...

anyway it got Even better when i met up with P. Madnick and Y. Hersh to go to the Oyhoo Festival, we missed the first two acts but in reality only went for Blue Fringe and Moshav Band. Both of which i really don't like, and i would have loved to have gone to Jimmy Buffet instead, but it was P. Madnick's B-day and well it was his call. The show was fun, but all the artists that played in between the two that we went to see totally sucked, just crappy noise. anyway Moshav finally went on, but they only played a 40 minute set, and it was ok, but they were dead, and not as good as i have seen them, but the crowd was also dead. we left and headed up to some bar where there was a huge B-day party going on for a whole bunch of peeps, we all met folks we knew (Lunch, Pauline A., Perry F., Yosef H., Sharona S., Shani M., and more and made some new friends also, and it was fun, i met a guy Franklin from St. Louis... nice guy i guess.

on our way back we walked all the way back to union Sq. and the fun was great until now, but its about to get better, you guys have to hear this, so me and P Madnick are a bit buzzed and we both hopped the turnstile, and its was odd, but whatever then a cop walks over to us ans said he saw us on the cam, so were like shit! oh well so we both went to the station and got tickets ($60) anyway i didn't give the cop much all i gave him was my college ID he asked me all the rest of my info ( I lied, and i wont be paying this. Being that all they have is my name, no social, Bday, addy, or anything else but my name). P. Madnick on the other hand gave the cop his licence, and well all his info was on that, and i feel for him, but there is one mistake on the ticket, the address of where he goes to school is wrong, is that enough to get the ticket off? its 2900 xxx in stead of 2900 yyy. anybody have any idea how this works?

we finally get on the train back home and at Church avenue this cop come on the train and asks this guy who was w/ two others o wake up... now its an odd request b/c he was not homeless he was just sleeping, the cop wakes him up and asks him to take his feet off the seat next to him or he has to give the guy a ticket, at this point i start to laugh hysterically, i mean that's the most absurd thing i have ever seen a cop do, the cop just stares at me and gets back onto the platform, after the doors close, the guy and his friends started to laugh as well while the perp put his feet comfortably back on the seat, as did i, why not?

ok i am home now, i have a test in 4 hours

TTYL

no Roger no please come back

2006-09-13T20:28:00.000-04:00

ok ok, now i am really missing roger waters the reality and repercussions to what i have done have just set it, it hurts a little, but i think i will rest up and study a little and hopefully after tomorrow night will get over it

arrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhh my stomach hurts.....

ttyl

Damn it

2006-09-13T18:16:00.000-04:00

Oh well I feel real poorly I men last nights concert was so f*@#ing amazing, but I am just not up for another cocnert, you know that feeling you get when your body needs a rest from it all, I mean even if I would go I would not have the energy to stand, I mean some bands give off energy but some you need to bring your own, and most of all it comes down to the size of the venue, and MSG is huge, and cool, but its much better at a small venue like the Knitting Factory or the Roseland.

anyway I flipped a coin and the coin told me not to go so in the end I unloaded the concert ticket 2 hours before showtime, hope Ezra and the others enjoy the show, I am gonna miss a great show, but what can I do I feel like crap....

ttyl

Pink Floyd Take 1

2006-09-13T01:49:00.000-04:00

holy shit

Roger Waters totally blew my mind, and when Nick Mason came out to preform Dark Side, it was just amazing, beyond great

He preformed in addition to Dark Side i'll post a set list tom, right now i am really tired, and I'll post all of the pics tom, for now here are two

wow i cant wait

2006-09-12T01:09:00.000-04:00

wow Sept 12th is here!!!!!

lots of stuff going on today, one Roger Waters and Nick Mason get to see me live!!!!!

next Lord Steve Jobs will hopefully release a new ipod!!!!!!

and tomorrow it gets even better, i get to see Roger and Nick again!!!!!

then Thursday i get to see moshav band, yea not my speed, but i will get so shitfaced, i wont care!!!!!

then Monday i get to go with dad to see The Who, wow i cant wait!!!!!!

post pics tom,

ttyl

its been a while....

2006-09-08T02:15:00.000-04:00

Hey people...

I finally have done something worth posting about!!!

I went to the “BIRDMONSTER” concert @ the Mercury Lounge, I got two tickets in advance, but since I do not know a single person who is into listening to bands they never heard of, I ended up going alone... oh well not the first time, not the last.

I got on the train and made sure I had both batteries for my cam, but then I realized I forgot my memory card at home, sucks for me, I got off at Atlantic Ave. and ran up to Target and picked myself up another memory and got back to the train platform in under 10 minutes!!!

well I went to wait for the M train, waited 30 minutes or so, and decided that it wasn’t coming and hopped onto a D train, and took a cab from grand to the Mercury lounge.

I got to the concert after "THE SAMMIES" set, and in the middle of "SOMEONE STILL LOVES YOU BORIS YELTSIN" set, a really fun group to watch, I am upset I missed the first 2/3's of their show, oh well so is life... T

After the Yeltsins were on "CATFISH HAVEN" went on, they were tremendous, and I am now a fan, and can’t wait to get there albums. There use of backup vocalists is something I have never seen in and indie band , it was nice to see them perform as a whole, and even Phil from "YELTSIN" came on for a while to play the cow bell.... it was an overall great set

At around 10:40 “BIRDMONSTER” got on stage and started to set up their gear, and shit. Peter Arcuni came over to me, said hi and that he remembered me from the show @ the Knitting Factory some months ago, that was cool, then he asked me if I wanted to get on stage and use a tambourine for a song, and that was really cool!!! It was cool, it was Alabama and it was a blast.

About the “BIRDMONSTER” set, at first I was skeptical because they were not going to play any new music, and I already heard them perform their current album the last time I saw them live. boy was I wrong, they are an amazing band on CD and even more spectacular live, they a life force on stage, and just amazing, and its was so great I took out my earplugs 3 songs into the set just to get the full effect of the music!

as u can see I had a blast, I got home went to Deli 52 w/ my friend Eli as we do every Thursday night, it was a good way to end the evening, I have to go get some shut eye, I need to be in class @ 9AM and I am working this weekend, kind of sucks, but it pays the bills...

gn
ttyl

Some One Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

Catfish Haven

Birdmonster

Food from the deli on 52nd

Deli 52

2006-09-07T00:01:00.000-04:00

i am wiped, had a long day today, but Birdmonster is tomorrow night, i cant wait, still have an extra ticket, anyone want to come? the ticket is $10.

Thanks all

The Last Night of Summer

2006-09-05T00:32:00.000-04:00

yes its true, tonight was the last night of summer, but fuck it, this year is going to be amazing, going to go whole lot of places, and whole lot more concerts, listen to hours of new music, and make new friends at the same time.... wow i sure am gonna miss the summer 2006. oh well gotta get up early tomorrow morning, wanna get an over tally into some classes, and i actually have to go to em to get em, real bummer...

ttyl

Random pic from Dovi and Abby's vort, pic of nothing but the crowd

Finally

2006-09-04T02:47:00.000-04:00

OK, it took a week but i finally posted all the pics, i have them all in my account @ smugmug.com, here's the link, the pics are separated into albums by day(s) so be sure to check em all out.

i also uploaded all the pics from Davis' party, but your gonna have to request permission to see those, lol.

you can print em directly from smugmug (starts @ $.19), or you can download the originals from the site, and print em where ever you want. just do me a favor, don't download em and post em as your own pics on facebook, myspace, or any other online gallery's.

http://gruen.smugmug.com

again sorry for the delay

on another note, i plan to keep up this blog, because I'm always going places and would love to blog about em. its gonna be a mix of concerts, art exhibits/gallery's and some way out cities here and there!

some pics for now.....

2006-09-03T18:31:00.000-04:00

here are some pics, but i am in the midst of sorting and uploading them to a third party web gallery.

Pics

2006-09-03T17:33:00.000-04:00

This sucks, I have way too many pics to upload here, so I think I am just going to upload them to flikr, and I'll post a link, how does that sound?

Day 12

2006-08-28T00:27:00.000-04:00

We got to Miami, finally @ 7:30, went strait to Mincha, and after that Dan dropped us off @ Shragi's aunt, Dan really didn’t want me in his house, lamo, oh well....

we drove around a while, and we went to Dougies, had some meat that was not rotting in a cooler for 2 weeks, nice change of pace, went to look for a bar, then got lazy, went back to the Weberman's place (Shragi's aunt) and caught the beginning of the roast of William Shatner on Comedy Central. then retired for the night, lots of driving, really tired, almost finished with my case of red bull, going back tomorrow night, 8pm flight, I just realized I have college this Wednesday, I though I don’t have class till next Tuesday so it cam as a bad surprise, oh well what can I do,

ttyl

Frustration

2006-08-27T16:10:00.000-04:00

Ides of March

ttyl

Day 12

2006-08-27T04:43:00.000-04:00

so we drove all night, we arrived in Dunedin, stopped off in some Holiday inn, staying here for a couple of hours, just had a BBQ @ 4AM, great breakfast, or dinner, depends how you look @ it, lol

TTYL

arrrrrrrrrghhhhhh another rant !

2006-08-27T01:45:00.000-04:00

ok, I love music in many forms, but I really never got into the music in other languages, and in particular Jewish music, and people might love it, and that’s cool, but nobody can profess it as being any good, I mean contemporary Jewish music is all cheap rip offs of other great songs, and its even worse to have a whole car listen to this pure shit, it totally blows, hell I put up with an hour of S&G, but this Jewish crap totally blows.... so horrid I hope the speakers blow soon, Jewish music is not meant to drive to and even worse, blast in a car with me in it!

:End Rant:

100,000 Miles

2006-08-27T01:03:00.000-04:00

ok, not a big deal for Aryeh, Shragi, or me, but for Dan and his family... i guess they give a shit about this. here the pics @ 1AM on 8/27/06, the old mule made it this far, but god know it wont last much longer.... e just hope it gets us down to Miami with out anymore trouble.

Day 11

2006-08-27T00:41:00.000-04:00

Shabbos was great; Rabbi Oirechman and his wife were extremely nice. The food was outstanding, and the students and other locals who came for dinner and lunch provided great company and we felt very welcome by everybody. Ok enough of the formal thanks you, and on to the breakup and the particulars...

We got to Tallahassee around 5:30 PM on Friday and looked for the closest motel to the Chabad house, we found the Suburban Hotel, rates were not great, but our choices were limited, so we made due w/ what we had available.

We got ready for shabbos, but we had an issue, with getting in to our hotel room, but I suggested leaving the window open, and reaching for the door handle, which was simple enough, and left our door locked so we did that.
Mincha was called for 7:30 PM so we started around 8:00 PM and we made the minyan, so they thanked us, and it was a great Davining, lots of singing, really nice. After Ma'ariv we sat down for Dinner, and there were about 35 people there for dinner, half were students form FSU the rest were local Jews who came for a Shabbat meal. There were allot of people, but there were four people who were very welcoming that was the Rabbi, Sam, Tal and Bret. So Thanks to them also. Tal spoke about being in Haifa when the first Katusha rockets hit, and how emotional it was, or was not. Then I spoke about out trip shortly, and then the main course was served.....

to start off, we spoke to the rabbi allot, he's amazing, just out there, and helping the fledgling Jewish life out there in middle of Florida’s Panhandle, and more specific the communities @ FSU and the surrounding Tallahassee Communities. it was nice to see him encourage any little change for the better in everybody, weather it be a mezuzah, kosher, praying thrice daily, whatever, it was just pure encouragement. The rabbi told us that he has been out in Tallahassee close to seven years, and it was a pretty nice Chabad house, on 1.5 acres of land.

Anyway just briefly about the three other people who were on that list

Tal - an Israeli, who came to FSU on a Swimming Scholarship and now Returned to get his masters in Civil Engineering

Bret - the President of Chabad @ FSU, didn’t really speak to him much, but the rabbi thanked him allot, and had much adulation for him.

Sam - an Engineer also working on his Masters @ FSU, great guy, seems to really want to get the whole Jewish thing down pat, one thing at a time.

Saturday morning Shachris was called for 10AM we got there somewhat on time, it was long but nice, like Friday night, not as many people, but we had a minyan, and that’s all that counts. Dan davend Musaf.
After davening we had lunch, and about 20 people stayed for this meal, the cholent was killer, just damn good, the rest of the food was really good also. After the meal davend Mincha while we still had a minyan. Afterwards we walked back to out hotel and went to sleep, and I finished my rolling stone magazine.
We went back to shul @ 8PM for dinner, Ma'ariv (no minyan) and Havdala. We thanked everybody for the unbelievable hospitality and we left, went back to the hotel packed up and departed for Clearwater, FL

We have another 175 miles to go as I am writing this, and here some other stats this trip has so far been 2,750 miles long, and the car's odometer is @ 99,950. we stopped for gas 14 times to fill up, 200 gallons of gas on this trip alone, the most expensive gas was on NYC $3.29 and the cheapest was in Kentucky $2.55.
Ok, going to watch some movie now,

ttyl

Mobile Bay

2006-08-25T14:58:00.000-04:00

Wow, we got a glimpse of the Gulf, driving over Mobile Bay; it was breathtaking, can’t wait to get to the beach now. Here some pics of the USS Alabama look up its story on www.wikipedia.org

Day 10

2006-08-25T12:50:00.000-04:00

wow this trip is starting to wind down , its been long and great, still got till Monday night to live it up....

we left New Orleans (10AM), (i miss it already). we are already in Alabama, a bit before Mobile, on our way to Tallahassee, staying at the Chabad @ FSU so i am looking forward a bit, only wish we were still in New Orleans....

i do miss home a bit, well not home... more the city, we were in cities but none as great as new york, all the nightlife, hell just the concerts for me. i have a great line up this coming month for concerts

8/30 - Piamenta (southpaw)
9/7 - Birdmonster
9/12 - Roger Water (MSG)
9/13 - Roger Waters (MSG)
9/14 - Jimmy Buffet (MSG)
9/18 - The Who (MSG)
9/20 - Kasabian (Webster Hall) [not sure i'm going being right before rosh hashona and all...]
9/26 - The Racuntuers (Roseland Ballroom)
9/28 - Tool (if i get tix)

so as you can see i am pretty excited, and have good reason to be (see above list)
college starts for me the Tuesday after Labor day so i still got one more free weekend after this. OK, here we are Mobile, were gonna stop for gas now.
ttyl

Day 9

2006-08-25T00:58:00.000-04:00

so i did pretty much nothing today, walked around a lot, blew some cash at the casino, the house always wins, oh well....

went for a manicure, that was enjoyable. got a drink in the afternoon, kept me going till 7pm then i slept till 10. going to the gym now, then i;ll go swimming.

for the weekend, we will be in Tallahassee, it was to hard to find a place for shabbos here in New Orleans, so we're gonna skip town tomorrow morning.

ttyl

New Orleans Rocks!!!!

2006-08-24T04:25:00.000-04:00

we got to New Orleans, to start our Hotel La Pavilion is amazing, down pillows, roof top pool, great gym! really nice, the room even has its own door bell!

now we just went to Bourbon St to see if its like they said, we went there kinda late so most of the bars and live music joints were closing up, but they have a great selection of strip clubs, and i even saw a couple of nightclubs, gotta get there early tomorrow night catch some of the music scene.

we hit up Harrah's, nice casino, great location, not too far from the hotel (6 blocks) i made $50 on blackjack and left for the night, its close to 4AM, just chekin in...

ttyl

another darn update

2006-08-23T22:10:00.000-04:00

we finally got to Jackson went strait to the golf driving range, we had other plans to, but they were deterred (read below) so we just hit lots of golf balls for about 30 minutes, then we grilled and schmoozed up the owner, nice fellow.

Now we are on our way to the city of New Orleans, a great city that is still marred with the aftereffects of Katrina and its sister hurricanes. Can’t wait to get there though, hope i can find cheap beer, just like I found a cheap hotel, etc.

see you there....

wow, another post in Day 8

2006-08-23T18:33:00.000-04:00

ok, so we are back at Wal-Mart again, after 4 hours they put the tire on wrong, so we had to go back after like 20 mile, and what do they do!!!! they send us to another mechanic, Mississippi is really screwed up.... so exciting.

we just arrived at the Grenada Chrysler Dealer, so great....

Day 8 still....

2006-08-23T18:21:00.000-04:00

i have cooled down since I got made into a meal a couple hours back. And after listening to my entire Elliot Smith collection I am cool, and relaxed.

so after four excruciating hours, all to change one god damned tire we are back on the road, this is the break down of the time an hour waiting for the AAA guy, and 3 hours for the Wal-Mart people to change the tire, gotta love the people over at Wal-Mart in Bew Springs, MS.

Anyway, were headed to Jackson, and then onto New Orleans, got a great 5 star / 4 diamond place in downtown New Orleans, cant wait, a nice place to stay, again!

road trouble take 2

2006-08-23T15:41:00.000-04:00

so we blew out a tire on I-55 so, were 4 guys we could change it and this would so not be an issue. but alas, Shragi and Aryeh do not know how to change a tire, morons. then it gets even better, I take out the jack because, i sure as hell know how to change a tire; and Dan tells me he wants to wait for AAA to come and do it, why b/c they have a power jack and it will take 5 minutes, but to wait an hour to save ten minutes makes no damn sense at all, I gave up arguing with the voice of reason Dan himself. and went to lay on the grass, listening to my iPod. it gets even worse... I get up about 10-15 minutes later, and I am bit up, apparently fire ant are all over the place, they bit up my legs, my back, and my hands, so I’m in lots of pain, oh well what can I do....

the AAA guy comes and what does he do? He takes the jack from our car and uses it, and yep i guessed it, no fucking power jack!!!! Damn it I am so ticked b/c now we waited and I got the shit bit out of, all for nothing!!!!!!!!!!!!! arrrhhhhhhh

now we for some odd reason had to go to Wal-Mart to get another tire, even though we are using a spare, i mean if it was a donut then i understand, but its a spare.... so much time wasted by pure stupidity.

:End Rant:

Day 8

2006-08-23T13:14:00.000-04:00

were on the road again, left from Memphis on the way to Jackson, going to get a round of golf in before we hit up Bourbon st.

having trouble finding a place for shabbos in New Orleans, apparently there is this Torah dedication, the first since Katrina, and well many of the people who left after Katrina are coming in for the weekend, so all the bed and breakfasts are full, and most people's houses are full, sucks for us..... oh well cant wait to get there tonight. if anyone has any advice, please post it, thnx.

is there a chabad in Mobile?

Day 8

2006-08-23T12:59:00.000-04:00

Day 8

2006-08-23T09:59:00.000-04:00

Day 7 recap

2006-08-23T03:34:00.000-04:00

Day 7:

We got to Graceland alright, pretty cool memorial, nice diggs he had there, and pretty cool life, its amazing how one man changed the world so much in 20 years.

We spent about 3 hours in the mansion, and the rest of the property, going through the house, pretty darn cool, this is the second mansion on this trip that was frozen in the 1970's.

after we left, we were planning on goin downtown, but we got sidetracke, and drove arround for three hours looking for food primarily more meat, we were runnig a bit low, and Dan and Shragi the two pessimists on this trip both figured that the meat is spoiled, and so we needed more. (btw i just had some an hour ago and it tasted fine).

Anyway, after we got food we went to Aria's and had dinner, not to cheap but really good Israeli food. we met up with two different families who were from New Orleans and relocated to Memphis after Katrina, and they were especially helpful in advising us where to go for the weekend, and who to call, people out here, (out of the tri state area) are so helpful, its unreal.

then we went to shul for mincha and Maariv, which was nice, and then they gave us a mini tour of the shul again met up with more people from new Orleans and again got more phone numbers.... but I digress, the shul was HUGE, I mean it seated a good 500 people, and had removable walls so it could easily seat 800-1000 people max.

After that we checked into the hotel, and relaxed for two hours then we went down to the infamous Beale St here in Memphis. We went into 6 or 7 different bars and all but one had live music. The one that didn’t; had $2.50 pints, so who wouldn’t go in, but the bar tender was an ass so we left after a single glass. We hung out for the bulk of the time @ Alfred’s where they had some fun karaoke; Shragi got me to go up by offering me 4 beers, which helped. I sung Sex and Candy by Marcy's Playground, it was fun, and I was not sober, so I must have done a half ass job. A good time all around, we got back @ 1:30am we all turned in early.

We leave for Jackson MS tomorrow, and then onto the Great New Orleans for the Weekend!!! ttyl

Quick Q

2006-08-23T03:29:00.000-04:00

hey people, its been a week, just wondering why more of you don't leave comments, I'd love to hear your feedback, I'd love to hear from y'all

Mike

Day 7

2006-08-22T11:32:00.001-04:00

ok, we finally got on the road, i slept like 4 hours last night, just was too cold too sleep, got up worked out, ate breakfast, enjoyed the silence. well were on the road to Memphis now. 200 Miles to Graceland cant wait to see the king of rock, because rumour has it, the king is alive and Rockin' !!!!

They guys sleeping away the day

Day 7

2006-08-22T11:32:00.000-04:00

Minor Update

2006-08-22T02:28:00.000-04:00

just one more thing, i have tons of pics, and its a real pain in the ass to upload all of em from the road, so i try my hardest to post as many as possible, but the bulk of my shots wont be posted until i get back home, so sometime over Labor Day weekend they should all be up

Michael G

Day 6

2006-08-22T02:20:00.000-04:00

Day 6 is over, I already miss the beer sellar, but life goes on.

Today we started off by looking for the kosher restaurant in town; we found it not too far away in the nearby Vanderbilt University, inside the Hillel house. The food was interesting, it was a pure vegetarian menu, and the food tasted alright, but I don’t like paying $8 for horse feed.

After that we headed downtown, too the visitors center, and there we found out there is only one thing to do in Nashville, and that the Country Music Hall of Fame. I wanted to got, but Dan and Aryeh wanted to go to the Jack Daniels Distillery out in Lynchburg, TN, and Shragi like usual did not care. So we split up, Dan and Aryeh dropped me and shragi off at the country music hall of fame and they went off to Lynchburg. The hall of fame was interesting, just as nice as the rock hall of fame, but we the thing here was that shragi and I don’t know any country music, so all the names were new, except for Elvis. Although we didn’t know anything about country music, and we still don’t, it was fun, and worthwhile.
We went back to our hotel after this, and we waited for the others to return.

They got back at around 7:30 and we had plans to go to the Goo Goo Dolls and Counting Crows concert here in Nashville. the show started @ 7 so we were running late, but we were not interested in seeing the Goo Goo Doll, so we cam right on time right as the Goo Goo Dolls finished up their set. as we walked up to the box office the guy in front of us turned around and offered us a free ticket b/c he had an extra, so we got a free tik, and best of all, it was an actual seat, unlike the GA lawn seats we got, I sat in the seat, and loved it, it was pretty darn close, and awesome. The show was great, the Counting Crows rocked the house, and it was a chilled crowd.

We went back the Best Western and BBQ I am no on the way to bed.

The agenda for tomorrow is Memphis, TN.

Night 5

2006-08-21T13:19:00.000-04:00

ok, so i found my cam, aryeh took it, its great to have a Designated driver. anyway here the pics from last night. the first is a picture of Ron, arguing his stance on the war w/ Dan and some other guy. and the second is Ron trying on my Yarmulke, great guy, its great we have supporters of Israel down in the south!!!!!

Day 6 and Night 5 !!!!

2006-08-21T10:46:00.000-04:00

ok, i am up bright and early, and last night was great, but well i don't know how i got home, but the first two bars were great, and the Yankees won, but we went to the beer sellar (its spelled that way) well it was $13 for two pitchers and they have 50 flavors on tap, and over 150 different beers in bottles, so do you blame me for getting shitfaced? any way, funny story, so i walked into the beer sellar and this dude approaches me, the guy is in his 40's or 50's and he ask me my stances on the war, and i am pro the wars in Iraq, and the war in Lebanon, so i said that, and then we started a conversation that lasted 6 pitchers long, lol, but a real long time. it was cool, I'll post pics when i find my cam, yea it lost with the rest of my stuff i cant find from last night, cant wait for the guys to wake up and fill me in on the stupid shit that i did last night, BUT i do know i did not drink and dial, which is a first in a really long time, prob b/c i am using a diff phone with all of 3 numbers in the cell!!! hell yea, i am so proud of me!!!!! (BTW we got a pithcer of Sam Adams Boston Lager, and a pitcher of Yazoo Pale Ale, and i had a ton of whatever the guys next to me were drinkin, some great cider, no clue what it was called, but that is what sent me over the edge)

well we got the country music hall of fame today here in Nashville, TN, so gtg, wake the guys, ttyl

Nashville, TN

2006-08-20T23:02:00.000-04:00

Got to Nashville alright staying at the Best Western Music row, nice place, really nice city, gonna head out now for some beer, ttyl.

Day 5, KY State Fair

2006-08-20T22:28:00.000-04:00

Hey, today was the greatest yet. Day 5 was well an experience.

We got up early today, no complimentary breakfast at the Holiday inn here in Louisville, KY. But it was 12 floors and pretty big, a nice surprise, Louisville, was bigger the other cities we’ve been in so far.
So we had two things on the agenda for Louisville, the bat factory, and the Kentucky state fair. But the bat factory was kind of closed so we skipped it. We went strait to the fair, it was well amazing, and we started off walking to a lumberjack contest, real cool, log chopping, ax throwing, wood sawing, and a lot more. After that we went to a pig race, so much fun. The announcer was a real hick, and talking so fast he was impossible to understand. Next they had a BMX and skateboard show on a mini half pipe, real great, just look at the pics.

After the shows we went to look around @ all the exhibits. We started at the homemade brew and wine contest, then on to the best antique show. Then the art section. then I got into a debate with a really nice DEA agent about why Marijuana should be legal and how you shouldn’t be arrested if you are pulled over and have it on your persons if you are not under the influence, wow it was fun, he gave me some real oddball look. Then on to the art exhibit, some really great stuff there, all homemade. after that we went to the flea market, wow people are really interested in the dumbest of things, just a bunch of oddballs buying crap that nobody needs, lots of hot tub sales people, the most interesting stand was the www.customcaskets.com stand, where I just had to ask the sales lady what she recommended for me, and she said since I’m Jewish they have a plain pinewood boxes, but I was just laughing who the hell goes to a state fair to buy a coffin? I was ROTFLMAO.
Ok we left the flea market, and got a beer in one of the music tents, some country music band was playing, wasn’t half bad. Better then the bad punk metal that they had playing in the other tents; playing really bad G&R covers.
After the drinks, we went to the dairy cow exhibit, never saw so many cows, and wow tons of shit all over the place. but really cool to see all the different types of dairy cows, and the most awkward is that the owners need to sleep with the cows on the fair grounds, till the competition is over, and that was @ 4pm today, they were there since August 17th, the beginning of the fair.
Anyway, after the cows we went to the mule hut, lots of donkeys and mules there, again a really bad stench. we left rather quickly, and went on to the chicken and cock exhibit, mad cool (see pics) then there were pigeons, rabbits, dairy goats, and bee hives/ honey, all of these are things never seen in NYC. so great, and the people here are so freaken nice, I mean they apologize for being in your way, or stepping on your foot, so cool. Ok I got tired of the animals and aryeh wanted to go see the flapjack flipping contests, which ended up being a real lame. So aryeh caught some shut eye. I went to Six Flags Kentucky, which was right next to the fair grounds, and admission to the Six Flags is included in the $7 admission into the fair! but the rides are pay per ride, but its still pretty cheap, me shragi and Dan, went, there were 6 coaster, but the Chang was closed, and the raptor was lame, so I went on the Twisted Twins before Dan and shragi met up with me, and it was lame, then we went on the Thunder Run, a great wooden roller coaster, I went on it twice. Then we went on to the T2 which is a metal coaster, which cost $5 but worth it, me and shragi sat front row, and it was great, no pics though, too hard to snap em. so we did the best rides in Six Flags for $10 and the best thing was there were NO LINES, I mean when I went in Thunder Run the first time, I was the only one on the train!!!!, and when me and shragi waited for T2, we waited 10 minutes because we wanted the first row. we are really tired, so we skipped out on the Oak Ridge Boys concert, and we Grilled up in the parking lot, and now we are on the road to Nashville, TN, and the greatest part about the four hour drive down there is that we gain an hour by getting into the central time zone! Oh well gotta get some sleep on this drive, see ya'll in Nashville!

srry

2006-08-20T04:13:00.000-04:00

yea i am missing some pics i think i left my other cam in the car, will post em up tomorrow, sorry all

Day 3 and 4

2006-08-20T03:19:00.000-04:00

I am a tad backlogged here, a great weekend, here in the car @ 2 AM typing this up....

well I am just going to recap day 3 and 4 right now, and post tons of pics.

so day 3 we slept in a bit, after the long drive and the 1AM check in @ the holiday inn....

we got our act together around noon, we set out to the downtown area, walked around a bit and asked some folks what there is to do, they all kind of said nothing but you could go down to the levee, so we did, we took the $1 shuttle bus, which took us across the Ohio River, and into Newport Kentucky. we hung around a mall there, right next to the aquarium, and it was nice, lots of people, we went into the Irish pub, and got a fully nutritious lunch, liquid bread, or as we call it back east Beer. It was good, the greatest part bout this was there is no tax on alcohol!!! That’s like getting 15% more for free!!! I love Kentucky, at least the non-dry counties, the dry counties suck!

Anyway after we chilled on the Ohio River, we had to get going, our hosts were going to get an early start on Shabbat, so we had to get going. It was around 5PM.

We got to our hosts @ around 6:30, but before I start I need to thank the people who made our weekend stay in Cincinnati all possible. I am going to start at the top of the list and work my way down, Sarah D. Hoffman for putting me in touch with Sara Appel. Sara Appel for putting me in touch with Leah Shapiro. Leah Shapiro and the Shapiro family for arranging our stay at the Soloffe's, and for having us for dinner, (more bout this later). Thanks to Andy and Rachel Shapiro for putting us four up for the weekend, and having us for lunch Saturday afternoon. (more bout this latter also)

now let me get back to were I was, before all the thank you’s....

so we got to the Sollofes about 25 minutes before mincaha, so we were in a rush to shower shave, and change. We got to KI for mincha in time for kabblos shabas, and well out of all places, I saw someone who I know from back home, who just got married, Baruch Jankowitz, it was cool to see him. Anyway back to the trip, shul was nice; people were so friendly. Whatever, shul was over and we were hungry, we walked home with Mitch Shapiro, and then we walked in to the house. Met the Susan and Leah, and a whole bunch of other folks who I truly would say the names, but I am sure I’d forget one or two, so I will just say lots of people.
The food was, just wow, and it didn’t stop coming out, and the corn'd beef was superb. Then the Woodford reserve came out... and it’s all a blur after that..... lol.

We got back to the sollofe's and slept.
We woke up at 8:40 went to the Synagogue of Gulf Manor, really nice shul, big and all. after laying we were invited to the Kiddush club, and well it was nice, to meet everyone there. any way it was good, and there is no better way to start off your day then with some good Woodford Reserve. We went back to shul for the rabbi's speech it was good, not that I can repeat it or anything, but it was a good 20 minute nap. After shul there was a Kiddush, great spread, but no chullent, that a KI exclusive in Cincinnati for the Saturday afternoon Kiddush’s. After the kiddush we then went to the Sollofe's for lunch, where when we got there, all of Andy’s friends came over for drinks. It was a lot of fun, pretty much the whole kiddush club from Gulf Manor came by, real cool while we were drinking, as the Fishers were getting ready to leave, the sollofes, they invited us to use their pool Saturday night, that was great. after that Rachel Sollofe, invited who ever was left in the house for lunch, real smooth. so we went to wash, and started the meal. the food was great, the chullent was exquisite. tons of food great deli roll also. ok so the meal ended at around 2:30 and we went to sleep, mincah was called for 8PM so we had a good 5+ hours of shut eye.
we woke up, and went to mincha, which was followed by seuda shlishit. the food was good, leftovers from the Kiddush from earlier in the afternoon, except the rolls, great food, really enjoys whoever I sat next to, funny thing I met this guy I went to OJ with, don’t remember his first name, but his last was Deutch, kind of cool, he up @ Cincinnati Sate University, a A/V production major.
after that was Maariv, and Havdala.
we got back to the Solloffs, and Rachel informed us that we were invited to some party at the Mizrachi house, but first we wanted to go swimming in the fishers’ pool so we went there fist, the party was called for 10:30 so we had plenty of time to go swimming. we pulled up to this huge ranch, and it was huge! we walked back, and the pool was great, and all see the pics below, they also had a really nice tennis court about 40 feet behind the pool, it was a really large property. all extermly well landscaped, rocks, trees, flowers, gravel, just really nice. after the pool we went to the party, see pics, had some ice cream cake, then had a BBQ, it was fun. we left around 1AM and now we are on the road to Louisville, KY.
can’t wait for the Kentucky state Fair later today. ttyl

2006-08-18T14:40:00.000-04:00

so we slept in late Friday morning, we got a free breakfast at the hotel, and they were nice enough to let me in to the kitchen and see the labels, and take all my food (bagels, muffins, yogurt, cereal, the works, alas no kosher OJ, but there was milk and coffee to drink). anyway, after close to 1000 miles of driving, we still have not seen a Wal-Mart, so we set out today to get to a Wal-Mart. So we went to one, about 8 miles from where we were. Here are the pics of what we did @ Wal-Mart.

YEY Wal-Mart

the Wal-mart makeshift gym

the Wal-mart makeshift gym

tailgating @ Wal-mart

Arrival in Cincinnati

2006-08-18T01:18:00.000-04:00

day 2 has come to an end, we have arrived in Cincinnati, OH. No more pics from today, but we are in the Holiday Inn, which has friendly yet insufficient service, they gave me 4 keys to the room, the problem was the keys were all for different rooms, all of which we raided for towels, blankets, and soap. enough bitching on my part. I'm a loser, and really tired, didn't sleep all that much today in the car, or the yacht, so i am going to remain in the motel to sleep. (end rant... lol)

here are the pics from the mansion from last night. (sorry only interior shots, the roofer was there in the morning, and well no decent shots of half naked hicks on the mansion)

the staircase, and front door

the den

other side of the den

ornaments

The Living Room, the painting on the far left side, was a great optical illusion, a imitation of MC Escher, but it is cool because it was suspended in mid air, and not against the wall

the Office

bedroom 1

Different View of the Office

bedroom 2

bedroom 2

bedroom 3

Vanity Mirror

bedroom 4

crazy nice chandelier, above the front entrance

ok, ok, here i am

2006-08-17T20:19:00.000-04:00

ok, some peeps wanted a pic of me on this blog so here's the best I can do for ya'll out there.

2006-08-17T19:55:00.000-04:00

ok, day 2 is over for now, we did the rock hall of fame, then we had lunch @ the only kosher SUBWAY in America and it was great, and cheap. We were then scheduled to see GWAR down in Cincinnati, but Dan's friend Yaroni Cohen offered to take us out on his yacht, and well GWAR is great, but how can you refuse a yacht outing in the great lakes, in near perfect weather?!?! so that's what we did, we are now on our way down to Cincinnati, where we will be spending the weekend.

Day 2

2006-08-17T15:52:00.000-04:00

ok, we just left the rock and roll hall of fame, it was awesome, i mean all volumes of pure rock history, just great, had a great time, some cool pics, on of us outside, the other of Nike's monument to LeBron James, the rest was just not picture worthy, mostly an audible experience.

Day 2

2006-08-17T12:51:00.000-04:00

so we just left out hosts in Cleveland, and let me say the house or rather mansion we stayed in was stuck in the 1970's and wow when it was built it had to be state of the art, they had some serious interior design done 35 yeas ago. they had a Turkish shower, you don’t see that in too many places anymore. They had an old school bar, with a water and carbonated water tap, and all they syrups to make soda with just like back in the day, when my folks were young, (yea they’re old). the art on the wall was also great, mostly Jewish painters, sculptors but it was all breathtaking. Can’t wait to post pics of the house, I just have to sort through em... took so many....
We’re headed now to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, i cant wait, its gonna be great.... ttyl

as Day 1 wineds down

2006-08-16T22:14:00.000-04:00

ok, day one is over. after the ten hour drive, we finally made it out to the gorgeous Sandusky OH. home of the famous Ceder Point theme park.

we went on 5 roller coasters, all with the average wait time of 60-90 minutes, all for 20-47 seconds of fun, so it worked out great, 6 hours of waiting, 3 minutes of fun. but we all had a great time.

we finished off with a BBQ in the parking lot, alas no beer to be found, but we will be sure to make up for that in the days to come....

(and yes i took those pics while on a roller coaster!!!!)

2006-08-16T14:37:00.000-04:00

ok, were almost there, the smoke stopped, and well last fill up now onto cedar point, Aryeh is bitching about how scared he is about roller coasters, being a real baby, Jesus, shut up Aryeh. lol, oh well.

here some pics at the last rest stop, and yea we had to clean out the car, already, 8 hours of driving, kinda amazing what a mess piles up.

Worried, 400 miles so far

2006-08-16T12:44:00.000-04:00

so, we just pulled over and well something under the hood is smoking, and we are a little worried, but were gonna keep on trukin, and well we'll go to some place in Cleavland, OH and check it out.

as we got back on the road we saw this cool looking car, if anyone knows what it is, please post it up.

Getting Started

2006-08-16T08:17:00.001-04:00

We just left @ 5AM from the Portal residence, in LI, NY and well were on our way, and what a great trip this is going to be.

Our first destination is Cleavland, OH. home of the rock and roll hall of fame, and the world renowned Ceder Point, the greatest theme park in the country, or so we'll see.....

any way here is a pic or two of our first pit stop

(a special thanks to cingular wireless for providing the wireless Internet on the road)
no in the words of the great Tom Petty, "Into the Great Wide Open"