Diary Of A Subterranean Scenester

7:59pm: I escaped the job early on account of the main Dr., who I usually work with, also leaving. So I left the chores and priorities of the hospital in the incapable hands of those who haven't been there remotely as long as I have. [shrugs]

I was debating whether or not to hit QXTs for a few hours, to visit a friend who's not so gainfully employed there, before heading to Flamingo East. The more enticing option is an extended disKo nap.

10:27pm: A daYum late night at the animal hospital. I arrived home(a few minutes ago)2 hours beyond the time I was supposed to be done with my shift. Before I left I was asked to come back later and check on a few critical cases and then handed thirty bucks off the books for what will amount to be 15 minutes work. Nice.

My 2 day pass for Lollapalooza came in the post today. I can now stop worrying about that crap. Usually tickets arrive at my house within a week after Ticketbastard sends an e-mail notification that they've been printed. These took about two and a half weeks so, ya, I was a little bit concerned that either the vouchers got lost along the way or, worse yet, some crack-head dirtbag tore my mail open and ran off with the goods.

I am now 64.7% adult. I opened a checking account today....whereas I've only had a savings account for, uhh, hmm....not sure how many years actually. I was asked if I'd like an ATM card and answered yes with major hesitation. I honestly do NOT want to fall into the trappings of convenience with that little bit of plastic. What it does though is give me the chance to have 3AM ATM machine misadventures, hopefully the surreal kind that only Cheryl seems to have.

4:02pm: "Sushi Sushi Sushi......"
MMmmmm, it's been a while. Good stuff.

There's a ton of great, exciting things happening for quite a few friends out there. You know who you are. Congratz.

Ofcourse at the opposite end of the spectrum there's an inordinate amount who are dealing with major shit. My condolences.

Then there's me, as always...hovering back and forth in the middle. Betwixt and between.

4:19am: I'm too damn bored to remain awake to view some black speck move across the sun.

I have today off...and the forecast promises a gorgeous day which means yardwork.

I'm toying with the possibility of joining a gym to achieve a physique that makes me look like I'm somewhat active. Nah, my goal is develop a 6 pack worthy enough for Friendster showcasing. Ya, right. I give you all full permission to shoot me in the head if I ever do such a thing.

6:39pm: As of late there's been a surge in pics of yours truly....as opposed to the one a year snapshot some random stranger manages to indirectly get of me at a club. I may as well share the wealth...



Me, Kara and Garet at Sundown last Friday.



Sandra, Garet amd Moi.

Let me know if they look blurry. I've discovered that AOL's browser's picture resolution is absolute shit...so usually I see slightly distorted, low quality pictures whereas everone else using anything but gets crystal clear images.

5:11am: .
10:15 On A Saturday Night[The Cure]
Let's Goto Pluto[The Creatures]
So-Lo[OhGr]
Human Fly[The Cramps]
Pretty Vacant[Sex Pistols]
Second Skin[Chameleons]
Israel[Siouxsie And The Banshees]
Mirror Man[The Human League]
Louise[Clan Of Xymox]

One of the Batcave's few on far between better nights....even though there was a solid hour of crap courtesy of monthly guest DJ Jason. Did I really need to hear some shit pseudo-gothiK metal cover of Kylie's "Can't Get You Out Of My Head"? I think not.

10:29pm: I had a so so time at Flamingo lastnight. Didn't dance much at all but the minutes I spent on the sidelines were used to finally have in length conversations with individuals I was only passive acquaintances of. Me, building and strengthening bonds with people....who would have ever thought???

Now I'm off to the Batcave for more of the same, I guess. [shrugs]

3:16am: Agendarrhea:
Friday:Flamingo East(NYC)
Saturday:Batcave(NYC)

Same as it ever was, uh huh.

Although I'll be attending 2 concerts for Skinny Puppy in the upcoming weeks. Making up for lost time, ya know? I'm still in minor debate about going to see Nina Hagen at BB Kings, [shrugs]. I'll be hitting Mondo(check out their snazzy new site)at Bar 169 June 18th(coincdentally the same date as Dead City Disco. :( Sorry Todd).

Hmmm, what else? That's it, I guess. Is there ever anything more? Oh, My fickle ass decided to keep Verizon's service despite my on-line slamming session a few posts back. The tone was miraculously reconnected the night before one of their utility belt armed technician monkeys were scheduled to come out and rectify their fuck-up.

4:23am: I was looking forward to the Loop Lounge tonight because I felt I was cheated last sunday as far as dancing....which I didn't do much of because of Motherfucker's stifling numbers. I dunno....just wasn't feeling it this evening. There weren't many tunes that warranted me freaking out...not much beyond The Chameleons "Up The Down Escalator" and X-Ray Spex's anthem of anti-oppression "Oh Bondage! Up Yours."

Before I left for the Loop I noticed a sizable crack in the mid-sole of my right boot. I really know how to beat the shit out of regulation army boots.

I want to say more but the censoring part of my brain has blanketed the rest of my grey matter with a gag order. Nothing specific...it's just my thoughts are severely muddled. Moreso than usual.

Something has got to change.

1:58am: A Holiday In Reverse....
Could Monday's weather been any more hairy wet ass-like?? I think not.

It was a gorgeous day Sunday so I decided to take the train into NYC early and have a walkAbout with the intent of paying a visit to Mikey at the Downtown Music Gallery and then grab a bite to eat at the Dojo afterwards. There was a 3 piece brass and percussion improvisational performance in progress when I'd arrived at DMG so I took the remainder of that in, then chatted with Mr. IQ for a few then made a hasty exit because I was starving. Halfway down St. Marks I thought I heard someone hoarsely yelling my name, I turned but didn't see anyone I immediately recognized so I figured I heard wrong and then disappeared into the Dojo restaurant.
Later in the day I'd met up with Lee and Monica at their Greenwich Village apartment which is apparently a block up from where Lou Reed resides, [shrugs]. We picked up Jeff along the way who unexpectedly and thankfully got me into MF for free.

I think I'm officially done with Motherfucker. It's just too unruly a scene now....densely consisting of everyone and anyone who attend solely for the sake of being there. I used to have an insane amount of fun at those events. Now it seems like an oversized frat party where even the drag queens that spawned the idea of Mother(Fucker)are fighting for space. Plus the DJ all-genre setlist is now so rigidly routine, no more surprises, no more spontaneity, no more, no mas, no mas!
I managed to catch a few moments of ESG...who failed to hold my attention very long although I walked away thinking that one of the sisters behind the drums was an incredible percussionist. Wholly unimpressive, shame. I ran into loads of familiar faces:Polina and a mohawk-less Alex who were snuck in by security to promote NY Decay. Upon sight Alex stated that it was him that was calling my name on St. Marks. I felt so bad....and apologized profusely and said I didn't notice it was him belting my name because he wasn't crowned with his trademark, 3 story mohawk. There was Daryl, Ray and Sylvia from my NJ club circuit, Sy who whipped out his cock on stage in front of hundreds of people in order to win some crap Bath and Body Works-ish basket. No, I did not see his member, heh. Nathan and Millie showed up around 1 AM to promote her night but was put off by the idea when most everyone seemed unresponsive to her handing out the flyers for Mondo. Come 3 AM Millie asked if I wanted to get something to eat. I told her I was bound to NYC 'til 5 AM because I'd taken the train in....and that I would join her and Nathan if they didn't mind keeping me company for nearly 2 hours. They'd agreed so we settled at some brightly lit diner on the corner of 33rd St and 8th Ave. Most of their talk revolved around the politics of promoting club nights...and the sordid love connections of certain local bands. Was a bit strange being privy to such info because it was all so alien to me....especially the competitiveness involved with promoting club events.

I Batcave'd it on Saturday.....as usual. I wound up being branded a "jerk" because I became rather indifferent towards a girl who was 3 sheets to the wind that grabbed my hand to lead me into the crowd even though I said I didn't want to dance, each time I'd let her hand slip out of mine and I stayed put. This girl happened to be a friend of a friend so I was asked what had happened and I explained the aformentioned scenario. My friend was actually making sure that it was her drunken and rather high maintenance friend that was out of line and not I. Make sense? The night in general:Eh. BUT...I did find 10 bucks on the dancefloor. WHOOOO!

Friday....I stayed home.

5:37pm: Because Jim Thirlwell, of Foetus, is such a busy bitch the new album, originally projected last year to be released...uhh, now, won't be out 'til '05. Apparently he's involved himself with a Germany bound project performing in July. On board is Steve Beresford(Flying Lizards/Frank Chickens fame)as well as a few other familiar experimental musicians. The piece is described as "....'improvised cabaret-opera'; a new form of a stage production."

Uhhhhh, HEY!! That's MY idea!!!! FUCK!!!!

4:31pm: Lukewarm Weekend...
Not quite updating yet being that my mind lacks the energy to formulate the most minor detail. It's 4:40 PM...it's a shit holiday weather-wise, I'm still very tired and still frustratingly rubbing black make-up from my itchy eyes. The past few days did, ofcourse, involve all the usual settings but with a slightly more social agenda...which is highly uncharacteristic of me.

9:29pm: I Am SLOTH!
Unless I find some high voltage outlet between now and 1 AM to plug in to I'm not going anywhere....er, well....anywhere beyond checking on the animals at my place of employment around midnight. Gotta walk the dogs.

Saturday will, as usual, be the Shitcrave. Word has it that Dj father Jeff is spinning at some point during the night and as I indicated in an earlier post I'll be making Motherfucker a priority on Sunday.

1:38pm: For Those I Know That Are Fans Of The Band:
Recently reunited goth-inclined post-punkers Red Lorry Yellow Lorry have posted a brand new track on their site. All one has to do is register for free to retrieve it.

3:03am: A rather fine block of videos on VH1 Classics late this evening. First it was Julie Brown's highly amusing "Trapped In The Body Of A White Girl" then:
Pop Goes The World[Men Without Hats]
Do You Wanna Hold Me?[Bow Wow Wow]
Staring At The Sun[Ultra fuckin' Vivid Scene]!!!

Awww, yeah.

4:02am: Because Verizon sucks gangrenous swine cock I'll be cancelling what it is they refer to as being "service". Last saturday they managed to shut off my line as they disconnected the temporary unrelated phone system that was in the room across the hall. A few weeks ago one of their incompetent technicians took 2 hours to install a brand new separate line for aformentioned room but instead disconnected my room line in the process and activated the phone in the other room with my pre-existing telephone number!! Make sense? That also resulted in me not having my own line for a few days. What this moron did during the 2 hours was play with our cats, flirt to some degree with both my sister and my mother's friend(who was having the phone set up)and complain about his job(!!!)and how the employees are unfairly treated. Well go figure.
Anyway, the phone company informed my mother that no one would be out 'til this coming thursday to rectify what is inarguably their mistake. Fuck them. Verizon is terminated.

12:47am: Head Bastard Fuck
I got a raise today....I'm sure it's the standard buck. What was a bit different about this evaluation though is that I was given full permission to painfully crack the whip against those I feel aren't working as hard as I do during my workshift. Am I happy about this? Uhhh, "sorta" is all I can currently muster up. So...now it's part of my job to delegate and I don't do it kindly when I'm targeting individuals who know what they should be doing and allow the immediate concerns of the hospital to fall behind while I'm stuck in the offices hour after hour working at the hyper-lunatic pace of certain doctors. If I'm to employ a title I suppose it's head veterinarian technician. [shrugs]

I was reminded today that my friend's CD release party/show is this coming friday which means I won't be able to attend Dead City Disco. Sorry Todd. Although I enjoy her band I'd much rather be at the Loop Lounge than New Brunswick's Court Tavern with a bunch of unwashed locals talking above the racket about the glory days of , uhhh, said town's early 90's mundane music scene??? Sad.
I'll be hitting the Loop Lounge tomorrow anyway.....as usual.

Also.....I come home to find that there is a Murderer amongst us. [waves]

12:26am: Un-incognito
Posting this because a few of you out there still have no F'in clue what I look like.



GQ shot courtesy of Tamara.

1:46pm: This friday I'll be attending Dead City Disco at the Loop Lounge. One of the bands performing are noneother than local punk-rockers Graveyard School.

This coming sunday I'm debating whether or not to hit Motherfucker. It's their 4 year anniversary celebration and ESG are playing. Chances are I'll still be on line to gain entry when they take the stage though.

1:38am: Groin Checks and Cockblockers
Early tuesday morning I was pulled from an hour's worth of sleep in order to drive my mother to work so that I could have the car for the Urologist appointment(because of this nervewracking episode)later that afternoon. Fortunately the Dr. found nothing substantial enough to warrant concern. Done deal. It's behind me.
I came home to the 2 disc career spanning compilation of Curve in the mailbox. So far a day going strictly my way.
I was to see the Dickies at Connections that night so I called Beth out of the blue and invited her along. She was hip to the idea. The add indicated doors opening at 8 PM. We arrived at 9:15 to a venue with it's lights out and front door locked. What the fuck! Beth then stated that Connections was notorious for doing shit like that. Pulling the plug on a concert almost immediately after booking it. I'm assuming there was no show whatsoever unless it started at 10. We left before then though and instead of wasting a beautiful night we'd gone to New York City for a bite to eat at Dojo on St. Marks Place. Soy Burger dinner ofcourse. Afterwards we hit Kim's Video where I purchased the recently released DNA compilation and her a disc by rock-a-billy psycho's The Helicopters.
Wed...work....then the Loop Lounge. Barbara and Anita were there along with Beth's room-mate Eric who I didn't instantly recognize. I'd only met him the previous day so it took a few seconds to put him into focus.
The tunes:
When Doves Cry[Prince]
Gay Bar[Electric Six]
Sex Is Personal[The Faint]
Train[Goldfrapp]
Meet Sue Be She[Miss Kittin]
Gigantic[The Pixies]
No Big Deal[Love & Rockets]
Friday:very hectic and frustratingly bad shift at work. I needed to go out despite me previously ranting about the sudden increase in the price of gas and stating that I was to stay home. Nope. My first stop was to see how Mary Anne was faring on her debut night of DJing at a Jersey pub in Clifton. Have I mentioned in the past how much I hate watering holes where the neighborhood locals, young and old, congregate to chuck back more than just few beers and endless rounds of undercooked buffalo wings, whine about their ignoble lives and size eachother up for the hopes of either a one night stand or a fight? Thankfully this place didn't exhibit too much of what I mentioned....although it was crawling with indifferent, fake-tanned mainstreamers who wanted nothing more than to hear what they called "normal music". A taste of what Mary Anne was spinning:
Get A Grip On Yourself[The Stranglers]
Roadrunner[Modern Lovers]
Annie's Gone[Redd Kross]
Sex Bomb[Tom Jones]
Do You Want To Touch Me?[Joan Jett]
From what I can gather she won over a few of the patrons by the end of the night and was asked to come back the following week. I shoved off a half hour later and headed straight for Flamingo East and purged the frustrations of my job out onto the dancefloor so that they could be trampled and pressed into the tiles by everyone around me in platform shoes.
Saturday I Batcave'd it had had a rather excellent time due in no small part by an impromptu DJing stint of Millie. That was later in the night. When I'd arrived I spotted Cynthia and handed over a disc of what little Vicious Pink(Phenomena) I had and was reciprocated with a burned copy of a Miss Kittin And The Hacker disc. Not sure which one it is. I've yet to have a listen. I ran into not so regular QXT'ers Dave and Karen who'd informed me that my favorite room at QXTs will be once again boarded shut for the summer. Figures. Towards the end of the night I employed myself as a cockblocker by calling Karen away from some guy who I could clearly tell she was getting annoyed with but was being polite regardless. Come to think of it, I'd done that twice for her over the course of the evening. Hmph. Why is it so hard for most people to tell someone to fuck off when they've reached the level of being an annoyance at a club? To place a cease and desist order on someone to snuff out their unwanted advances? I just don't get it. And for those of you with the "It's different for guys." argument at the ready you can drown it in the blue liquid and flush because it isn't. There's an untabulated amount of past scenarios where I had to publically put an end to individuals directly making me their objective....some of whom took "no" for an answer and went on their way, others who became increasingly more aggressive in their conduct until I had to scathingly lash out to get my point across, a point that was inarguably clear from the onset.
ANYWAY, the tunes that caused me to lose it:
A Girl In Trouble Is A Temporary Thing[Romeo Void]
Rise[P.i.L.]
Yes Sir(I Can Boogie)[Goldfrapp]<~I'll never get sick of this one.
It's You, Only You[Lene Lovich]
Numbers[Soft Cell]
Brilliant Mind[Furniture]
Uncertain Smile[The The]
Red Skies[The Fixx]

1:16am: HAHAHAHAHAH!!!!
M4M

Three guesses as to who was wearing the Siouxsie T mentioned in the title of this "seeking" post....and the first 2 don't count.

3:35 AM addendum:The link initially came to my attention via the Throwing Muses messageboard, posted there because a fan spotted the 50 Foot Wave reference on whatever this Craiglist.com site is.

3:31am: "Tragedy-aye-aye. Meridi-aye-ayeaye-an...."
It's a Cocteau Twins night. So...I've loaded the MP3 player with '83s 'Head Over Heels' which is my favorite disc by said band, as well as a handful of tracks extracted from various satellite EPs that were recorded around the same time. I'll be in bed while having a listen though chances are I won't be lulled into sleep. I have to be up and alert by 8:30 AM to drive my mother to work so that I have my car for the early afternoon Dr.s appointment. We all know that's about the time I finally go through the motions of shut-eye.

12:17am: Time To Start Living As The Majority Already Does......
The price of gas has gone up nearly 30 cents a gallon this past month. That is correct, yes? I'm not hallucinating, am I??

Uhhh, I can no longer compete and sadly I'll have to curb my nightlife, starting this weekend, to some degree being that most of the places I frequent are about a 45 minute drive. I'll still goto the Loop on Wednesdays but not so much on a weekly basis. I may also have to throw in the towel concerning fridays making them few and far between and saturdays I'll be training it....paying a round trip flat rate of 11 bucks instead of what NOW amounts to 20 dollars for gas and tolls alone.

I'm overwhelmingly dumbfounded by the current astronomical price of gasoline. It's what has drained my wallet the most this past year. [sigh]

So....I have off tomorrow for a follow-up appointment with a Urologist. Fun. To gloss over that scenario I'll be seeing the Dickies later Tues night at Connections.

Plus....my Siouxsie ticket was found. Hanging on the wall in our kitchen is a wooden frame with three slots. What my mother occasionally does is separate the household mail and place it in the appropriate slot....one of which has been emptied since my brother moved out. My brainstorm was that perhaps my mother accidentally placed the ticket in the wrong slot and that it, along with countless other pieces of his mail, had gone with my brother upon moving. Sure enough that was the case.

4:56am: Veek-end
On friday it was a fair turnout for Millie's 'Mondo' event, taking the place of 'One World:One Sky', at Bar 169. It also marked the first time I'd stayed 'til the end of the evening. Usually I abandon ship early in favor of the gothic leanings of Flamingo East but instead stuck it out and had a decent time.
The highlights:
Yes Sir(I Can Boogie)[Goldfrapp]
Shoot You Down[APB]
I Could Be Happy[Altered Images]
Bird Song[Lene Lovich]
Rich[Yeah Yeah Yeahs]
Life In Tokyo[Japan]
Love Parasite[Fad Gadget]
and the closing tune....
If You Were Here[Thompson Twins]

It wasn't til 3 PM saturday when I snapped back into life(mind you it was well into sunrise when I fell into sleep)and then proceeded to do next to nothing.....er, well, except purchase a Skinny Puppy ticket on-line. What I had to look forward to though was seeing 50 Foot Wave again....this time at Hoboken's Maxwells, a venue waterlogged with so many concert memories. It was where I'd seen Throwing Muses for the very first time back in '94, also Belly's first "official" '92 tour in the states where Tamara and I met Tanya Donelly. We'd offered her altoids but she turned them down immediately upon realizing what brand of candy they were. "Uhh, they make me really high.", she said. Plus The Chameleons blazing east coast reunion show a few years back and spending hours upon hours with not only a group of UK friends but with the band members as well, interviewing long-time fave Jim Thirlwell of Foetus followed by a racuous performance, The Revillos reunion gig last year, British Sea Power...and many more.
Anyway....saw a few people I'd met at last Thursday's show and again kept chat at a minimum. Was surprised to see Barbara and Anita in the main room. I really didn't expect to run into anyone I knew at the gig.
The opener was a Portland, Oregon band called The Standard...who I thought were quite good even though they're one of may to take their cue from a handful of others trying to ape the intense dynamics of Pink Floyd, Godspeed! You Black Emperor and the Swans 'Soundtracks For The Blind'. I'll be keeping an eye on them.
Kristin and co. put on a rather impressive show only this time the vocals weren't nearly as muddled as they were at the Mercury Lounge. What I did notice again was the crowd thinning a bit during their performance....which is what happened to some degree last Thursday. 50 Foot Wave is considerably more aggressive than both Throwing Muses and her rather precious solo output so I assume a handful of individuals had gone in under the impression that the show was going to be a rehashing of and in the same style as her previous projects. No such luck and too bad for them. Last years Muses "reunion" record betrayed her having a Doe/Cervenka X moment and her latest venture is a continuation in that direction....only 10 times louder. So, good show. I would've enjoyed myself more if I weren't completely annihilated on antihistamines. No encore....and it ended just in time for me to have to deal with a torrential thunderstorm. I got quite a pelting from the rainfall as I walked about a quarter of a mile down Sinatra Blvd. Needless to say I was soaked more than a seasponge by the time I reached my car.
Before I left for Hoboken I read that the Dickies are scheduled to play Connections this coming Tues so I decided to be pseudo-responsible and not go clubbing after 50 Foot Wave in an effort to save a few bucks. I'll _FINALLY_ be seeing the Dickies.

I spent the majority of my conscious time gardening on Sunday. I need to take pictures of the yard and post them so you people have some idea of what I'm always on about. I learned both Irving Plaza Skinny Puppy dates are sold out. Glad I acted on that fast. It'll be twice seeing them in June....first in NYC then The Electric Factory in Philly. Ya, I'm making up for the fact that I've never attended a concert of theirs.

3:33am: Kristin-itus
50 Foot Wave live exceeded my lofty expectations. Hersh's latest noize unit is more Riverbottom Nightmare Band than anything she's been previously involved in. And if anyone beyond Scott C understands that reference then they deserve to be bronzed. My ears are ringing something awful.

Somehow the Mercury Lounge managed to snag 2 opening acts that have absolutely no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Uhhh, Volcano and Decibully I think were the names. ??