Time is your weakness.

2009-11-13T05:56:00.000-08:00

Third time's the charm ... HAPPY FRIDAY THE 13TH TO ONE AND ALL.

Lori and I are all moved into the South House and aside from needing a few bookshelves, a futon for visitors, a dresser and maybe a couple more lamps, we've got the place right side up. Words can't cover the relief I feel from finally landing somewhere ... another month in that dingy little apartment with all of our possessions in boxes and I would have lost my mind (again). Still waiting for landline service to start (I have some angry phone calls to make later) so we can set up internet at home, and our landlord has to replace an ailing clothes dryer that had become a fire hazard -- last night the two of us dragged a replacement up and down the basement stairs, learning too late that it wouldn't fit into the laundry room. Oh, and I guess we need curtains too, as our kitchen window displays us to the neighborhood like a big screen TV (sometimes strangers wave as they drive by). But I am not complaining, we're fitting into the new space with precision and I feel a world of weight lifting from my shoulders, I've let go of a lot of baggage that should have been left in Seattle (I'm keeping some of it in case I decide to visit again). For three months and change I've been in an uncomfortable limbo, unable to either begin anew or bid farewell to a significant slice of my life, but none of that even feels like an issue anymore. Did I ever really leave Michigan in the first place? It seems ridiculous to me now that I could have ...

The second step in adding a period to my sentence out West will be the End Times LP, which currently is experiencing production delays (like I said, I have some angry phone calls to make) that I hope can be rectified today (UPDATE -- I have been temporarily placated regarding the vinyl, but I am still wondering when the graphic designer will resurface). I suppose I can take solace in the fact that no one is waiting for this record, so I don't have to worry about missing any deadlines, but as my musical activities in the Dirty Mitten increase, I don't want to lose sight of completing this project properly. Next weekend I'm hitting the studio with Jeni Lee to play on a couple of her songs, and as we add percussion and steel to whatever it is we're doing together, we both glow ever brighter with confidence.

The Reigning Sound hits Detroit this coming Monday, and I'll be a big stupid girl if I don't go. Perhaps this preemptive public shaming will do the trick ... make the scene if you can, it's worth your while.

2009-11-02T10:53:00.000-08:00

Lingering illness caused us to miss Roky Erickson, but we're all moved in to the new house and I'm spending my Monday nesting. Later this week, a job interview and the above public event.

2009-10-28T08:15:00.000-07:00

THE POP TARTS, SUMMER 1994

"This isn't a joke!" -- Soren Davis

Thanks Henry. This is the transitional band I played in with Soren, Jim Diamond and Tim Ford for one glorious summer. El Smasho had just broken up (badly) and Diamond had just returned to Lansing from Austin, where everything had gone wrong, so we all healed together ... I learned a lot just by watching Jim play, and when the Pop Tarts were finished, Soren asked me to join The Apollo Nine, which is where I learned everything else I know by watching Aaron Vanderpool.

I had already met my future wife Lori by this point (at the first Pop Tarts gig a week or so before), but this is the show where I noticed her in the way a man notices a woman. She still had braces then, but she was essentially legal (19 years old) ... anyhow, we didn't get together for at least a year after this. Lori is the girl in the blue and white shirt on my side of the "stage."

We played many bigger and better shows than this (our house party appearances generated genuine teenage mayhem), but we're lucky this one got captured ... the grand opening for Gen X, an East Lansing comic book/video store, where I first encountered the Something Weird Video company and realized that everything I ever dreamed of as a child was possible.

2009-10-27T12:57:00.000-07:00

We got it. Lori and I signed a lease last night for the house I mentioned a few posts ago, after a long, frustrating wait ... the owners aren't landlords, they're a young couple with a gaggle of kids who outgrew the place and moved across the street, so they were less eager to rent than to sell. We liked the place enough to start the process of making an offer before another buyer beat us to it. Lucky for us but not for them, the financing fell through and the owners decided to cut their losses and rent to us for six months before putting the house on the market again after the spring thaw. If we love it as much as we think we might, we'll put an actual offer on the table, but that's way up in the air. It's a small house, one true bedroom and two extra rooms that lead into each other without doors -- they're marketing the place as a two bedroom, but those other rooms don't provide much privacy, so they'll be a library and an office for us. A basement again after so many years, plus a big private backyard where Lori can garden (if we decide to stay, that is) and a reasonable walk to campus. It's been a decade since I lived in a true house, not since leaving Michigan in the first place, and I never really got used to the constant flow of apartments I endured in Chicago and Seattle. We'll still be looking for a permanent home, just to keep our options open for the next half a year in case something else smacks us in the face, but this place is a perfect location, decent size and in our current price range, plus we both responded to it immediately, so perhaps South Boulevard will end up being home.

My debut with Jeni Lee went fine, no meltdowns of any sort. It's time to build again ...

2009-10-21T05:08:00.000-07:00

I won't be there. I'll have school the next morning.

I am indeed taking a class, virtually, through Washtenaw Community College with hopes of professional advancement. It all starts today at 3:00pm, and since it's online only, I'll have to do my business in public at the coffeeshop of my choice (although there's a certain laundromat with wifi I've been frequenting lately that's much more comfortable). I am a very bad student, barely managed my college degree, so this will be an uphill battle for me. So why not add to the stress of moving cross country to the state I once fled forever, searching for a permanent home before the next month is up, sorting out my employment possibilities in a depressed local economy and all the other stuff that I'd rather not get into right now? At least I'll have lots of time to procrastinate.

Friday night I'm going to be joining Jeni Lee Richey onstage somewhere in Plymouth for four songs (maybe five? the new one is coming together quickly). This will be my first public performance in Michigan in a decade, not since the End Times 1999's last show in Lansing, which I played with my back to the audience after some unpleasant inter-band tension. Here's hoping Jeni Lee and I can make it through the rest of the week, at least ... anyhow, I'm not going to tell you where this place is, I'm not asking you to come, just making conversation. What's up with you?

2009-10-18T16:03:00.000-07:00

As alive as a music sequence can get, the raucous final scene of Simon of the Desert. Check out the gal in the plaid print outfit at 3:20, she's outtasite ...

2009-10-15T15:44:00.000-07:00

Christmas just keeps happening, year after year, as sure as the rain.

2009-10-13T12:18:00.001-07:00

My latest favorite song, "War Eternal" by Cirith Ungol. You can get the whole record here ... while you're checking out that particular heavy blog, don't miss Satan's Massacre (imagine two 14-year old nerds trying too hard to sound evil) and Black Task (pretty ragin' occult-themed thrash).

2009-10-13T05:35:00.000-07:00

RIP Dickie Peterson from Blue Cheer. And Brendan Mullen too.

2009-10-07T08:50:00.001-07:00

manger lookng to help femae group

Motor City Cribs -- Ghetto Recorders

2009-10-01T08:46:00.000-07:00

Enjoyed an encouraging first practice with a new girl, this round goes to my long lost pal Jeni Lee, who I worked with at a now-defunct hipster boutique in East Lansing some twelve or thirteen years ago and haven't been in touch with since. She responded to my ad for lady vocalists, unsure if I was who I seemed to be, but since I am and as we are both fans of serendipity, we've tentatively joined forces to work out a few demons together. It's not The End Times ... far as I'm concerned nothing without Tyson and Abigail can be (although I've been disloyal before), but we ran through four of my big hits last night and might very well be on our way to something else. Maybe an appearance at one of her upcoming solo performances if practices prove fruitful, but more on that later. In the meantime, meet my new/old friend Jeni Lee.

As for The End Times LP, production continues, and while I expect to have physical copies in hand before the new year, it's looking like an early 2010 release for us. Following that, I hope conditions allow a chance to reunite with my fallen soldiers and storm a little bit of the West Coast, but I've come to understand that hope is a useless thing ... who knows if we'll even have a West Coast come 2010? For all we know apes will be our masters by then, trees will be extinct and the oceans will become flammable. But as long as boredom reigns, all things are possible, no matter how improbable.

Haven't bought tickets yet for the Roky Erickson show on Devil's Night yet, but I probably should (should probably arm myself before heading into downtown Detroit on the most violent night of the year as well). Diamond is bassing for another Rationals "reunion" the weekend before which ought to be a riot of a different kind. And Lori's off to Portland for a weekend conference mid-month, and I have not yet decided how best to misspend my time alone ... I am open to suggestions.

PS. Welcome back.

2009-09-24T07:30:00.000-07:00

While I refuse to ever truly relinquish a mood, I'm in better spirits this week. Lori and I are seeking rental and/or purchasable houses in earnest now, and last night we found one that seems perfect, with just enough space, a great kitchen, fine family-style neighborhood walking distance from campus, big private backyard, basement perfect for potential band practices and even a jacuzzi. Of course, we won't get it ... there are already interested buyers and we'd be coming in on a rent-to-own basis, so I can't get my hopes up. But it is proof that comfortable houses in our price range exist in Ann Arbor, and it's much easier to imagine a future here when I walk through a place like that. Too many times I've driven through the city or searched online only to see condo after condo after condo, shoved between shopping mall after shopping mall after ... the core of A2 holds plenty of charm, but step a few miles away where the rents and mortgages are a little lower and it's just as ugly as the rest of the state. Or country, the whole USA looks pretty depressing to me these days.

Going to the DIY Street Fair in Ferndale last weekend also went a long way toward making me feel more at home. One thing you can say about Detroit, no matter how devastated by blight it gets, there are always people dedicated to making something happen there ... there was plenty good art and a whole weekend worth of bands that, well, I didn't like so much but fuck it, I don't like hardly nobody no more. I'll put it this way, watching all the twentysomethings nerd it up with their Decemberist imitations and 80s new wave fetishism made me feel like I was back in Seattle, which for better or for worse was a cultural climate I could function in, if not actually fit into. I nearly started crying during Great Lakes Myth Society, struck dumb by some warped feeling of homesickness ... why is it that I always wish I was where I used to be? Anyhow, I got very very drunk on lots of great Michigan beer, hung out with at least one of my oldest friends, ran into a bunch of people I used to know and got on well with (despite my slurring and stumbling) and bought the greatest t-shirt ever (you'll have to see it to believe it). Speaking of t-shirts, the level of local pride on display is staggering, easily one out of three chests bore some sort of Detroit-centric message. You don't see that in Seattle, people don't just walk around constantly declaring their allegiance to the Emerald City, but there's something about Detroit that makes people downright proud enough to shout it out to the world via the clothing they choose. So the question is, do I buck the trend or succumb? After all, isn't Ann Arbor just a distant suburb of Detroit? I mean, the MC5 didn't change their name to the AA5 when they moved here, did they? Maybe I'll just buy a Detroit Tigers t-shirt, I don't give a fuck about baseball but I've always loved that logo.

This weekend promises to be a busy one ... Friday I'm going to Ypsilanti for a "Stoner Rock" event to see the original End Times 1999 drummer Ian play in a purported Hawkwind-style band called Blue Snaggletooth (named after an obscure Star Wars character, a fact which I'm glad to say I didn't know until I tried Googling them). The band has been described as some sort of local supergroup, which could either mean the cream of mid-Michigan rocknroll combining into an unstoppable force or a bunch of drunks from defunct local bands getting stoned and charging people to watch them noodle onstage -- either way I'm looking forward to it. Saturday night Deming is coming to town and we'll be seeing the Richard Lloyd Band, a show which is being advertised as a huge punk rock blowout ("Party Like It's 1977!"), which might disappoint anyone who's never actually heard Television, the band that made Lloyd's reputation. The night is gonna be a lot more interesting to guitar technique types, but it seems like the opening bands are suitably noisy, so everyone can work out their aggressions before the headliner. I'm also very very excited about seeing the long-awaited reunion of the Wayouts (pictured above left) on October 9th in East Lansing ... that's the band that made Jim Diamond a local celebrity (the first time), a powerhouse trio that could play frat houses and hardcore shows and please 'em all regardless with their pumped-up surf/garage/pop sound. They were hugely influential to me (note matching black outfits) and everybody else, and I'm anxious to see my old pal and former bandmate (Clutters, Mark Lansing and His Board of Water and Light) Steve "The Steve" Simonson behind the drums again, and while I never knew bassist Eric well at all, we're Facebook friends now and these days that's as deep as it can get, right?

PS. An extensive oral history of one of my favorite movies, Over the Edge, well worth your time to either read or just go ahead and see it (thanks, Tom). And since I can only steal wifi in public places these days, I haven't been able to check out the Apostolic Pentecostal Christian rock group Winterband yet, but that's no reason you shouldn't, which you probably haven't unless you also frequent the WFMU blog.

2009-09-14T06:31:00.000-07:00

Via WFMU.

2009-09-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

Hello from Michigan, where everything is better.

My time here has not been spent in ease, I'm experiencing all the stresses I expected, mood swings and long hours of isolation, vague regrets of what might have been, more fear of the future than anticipation. Just in the past week I've developed some strange sleep disturbances, vivid dreams that wake me at irregular intervals and leave me wide eyed in the night. After four days of this, I'm feeling very shaky, so perhaps I should keep my mouth shut ... of course, I've had some good days and positive signs, but I'm anxious to find my place and I get more impatient with every year that gets crossed off that giant scoreboard in the sky, so I'm more uptight than not.

The good news is that Lori's job is going very well. The work is challenging, but her boss is the type who encourages long lunches and insists that Lori manage her own hours and make space for a life outside of the library. We've reconnected with some old friends, the kind where our understanding of each other is strong enough that not even decades, careers or children can fundamentally change who we are together. Also, cursory exploration of the Ann Arbor public library suggests that it's as good as Seattle ... I found Jandek CDs, the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a fine selection of documentaries (did you know that the first working television network was run by the Nazis? Me neither) and I can only imagine they got some good readin' books too. The restaurants are also impressive, for the most part, bettering many of Seattle's better eateries -- they're often equally expensive, but Lori and I don't walk away disappointed like we did most of the time back West. Oh, and the beer ... Michigan harbors a number of excellent breweries so we do our best to buy locally, and I must attribute my recent weight gain (I'm nearly up to 170 lbs for the first time since Chicago) at least partially to Bell's, New Holland, Arbor and Short's.

However, the apartment we were forced to accept sight-unseen turned out to be a bit of a dump (no matter, it's only a three-month lease, we'll be moving shortly), we're having trouble with our new insurance and Ann Arbor happens to be the worst fucking city to drive in ever. Ever. Narrow roads, inconsistent bike lanes, a dearth of street signs, and you can't take left turns anywhere, it's a constant maze of U-turns and missed connections. Buses are not a convenient option, because this is Michigan, and we just don't do that here. I won't even start on the shrinking job market right now, because it wouldn't really be a sincere complaint, but eventually it's going to be a problem that will require a creative solution.

In a sudden fit of positive thinking, I placed an ad on craigslist for a new girl singer ... I did the same thing exactly a year ago in Seattle and got very, very lucky, so I'm hoping to strike oil again, perhaps a redhead this time? There have already been some responses, a few very promising and a few very not so, but of course I still feel like everything is moving too slowly, and I had such a great lineup in Seattle that it's going to take a miracle to come close. I hope to have better news soon. The End Times LP gets mixed and mastered at Ghetto two Tuesdays from now, so we'll be able to start infecting the rest of the world with the truth soon ... the world isn't likely to listen, but I want to make sure it can't say it wasn't told.

PS. Since it's a national day of mourning, I must reminisce, as it was eight years ago today that convinced me to move to Seattle in the first place. I had just been laid off from my Chicago dot com job and was extending an already-planned visit to Lori when the planes hit. I was so thankful to be near her during what I assumed was the beginning of total war against the country, rather than a thousand miles away and not knowing which of our cities would be destroyed first, that I completely abandoned tentative plans I had to stay and work in the Midwest where I still had some writing opportunities ... if America was finally going to get what was coming to her, I wanted to be by Lori's side, and I have been ever since. Bring it on.

2009-09-07T11:10:00.000-07:00

A Big Race.

2009-09-01T08:22:00.001-07:00

2009-08-25T05:57:00.000-07:00

Getting off on the ruins of Detroit

2009-08-17T12:01:00.000-07:00

Today is Lori's first day of work. It took us ten days to get to Michigan, then another four to get our furniture and etceteras moved in -- all that time in hotels took its toll, both financially and spiritually. The Scorpion vs. Tarantula Ghetto sessions were kinda righteous, we did 16 songs in three days and I still have blisters. Finally got to see Scarlet Oaks, about half a set's worth, anyhow. Bourbon sold in gas stations, smoking sections in bars and restaurants, everybody driving everywhere all the time, endless miles of road clogged by construction that never gets done, bottle deposits, state income tax ... it's a lot to drink in all at once.

Hello to everyone I left behind in Seattle. A couple more days and I'll have it together.

2009-08-06T07:39:00.000-07:00

So for the 7.25.2009 End Times performance, Tyson arranged to have the show recorded, but the soundman didn't hit the right button until the very end of our set. It's extra vexing because the tape turned out pretty good, so if you're interested in hearing 2 1/4 songs ("Cursed With Hot Blood," "Got Caught Waiting" and "Stay Where You Are") from the last End Times show, you can download the MP3 here.

Lori and I spent a few days driving up and down the Oregon coast, and we're currently holed up in Missoula, Montana, visiting Bryan Bong, his old lady Julie and their genius son Manuel Mars. After that we high-tail it to Michigan and expect to hit Ann Arbor somewhere around Monday. We'll call you when we get in.

2009-08-03T09:25:00.000-07:00

The End Times, post-finale hugfest

Goodbye, ladies. We're really gone now, on the Oregon coast (Depoe Bay at this moment), still not sure what we wanna do with the next ten days before I'm due in Detroit. As I expected, I'm experiencing mixed feelings about the move and as relieved as I am to be finally finished with our business in Seattle, I'm still mourning a very fruitful period in my life. While living in the Emerald City, I:

1. Wrote a handful of articles and numerous reviews/previews for the much-lauded gay-themed alternative weekly The Stranger. Interviewed Rudy Ray Moore and Greg Ashley.

2. Served as Film Editor for nationally-distributed quarterly arts magazine Resonance. Interviewed Johnny Strike from Crime, Lech Kowalski, Miranda July, Rick Prelinger and Daniel Clowes.

3. Performed every song from the Damned's debut LP (Damned, Damned, Damned) for a Halloween show at the Funhouse with a band that featured a former member of Cat Butt.

4. Wrote numerous articles for an upstart Seattle music magazine called Seattle Sound. Interviewed Dr. Know from Bad Brains, Brandi Carlile and a guy who plays glass armonica on Linda Ronstadt records.

5. Formed the perfect band, wrote the best songs of my life, lost the perfect band, cried for a whole summer. Resurrected the perfect band with new personnel, came back stronger than before and learned lessons about confidence and self-esteem that I hope I can actually retain in the future.

6. Put together a choir and played bass in a band that included pretty girls in skimpy Santa costumes.

7. Fried bacon for the first time. That's not a euphemism, I hadn't actually done it before. I also helped roast a pig, had to pry its rigor-mortised mouth open while someone else pulled the tongue out. This at seven in the morning after three hours of hungover sleep. It was surreal.

8. Worked in an adult novelty/bachelorette party supply warehouse, and wrote the text for said organization's porn trivia card game.

9. Got married, twice, to the same woman.

10. Recorded dozens of songs at Egg Studios with Conrad Uno at the helm.

11. Got airplay on nationally-recognized local public radio station KEXP and performed live on Evergreen College's student radio station KAOS (earning my very first speeding ticket on the way).

Since eleven is my favorite number, I'll leave it there. There's way more I could add, but eventually we'd be getting into more personal territory (new friends, bitter fights, confusing relationships) and some things I still need to keep close to the vest. I have loved Seattle despite the city's tendency towards smugness, insincerity and bleak weather ... I am better in many ways because of it.

2009-07-29T17:07:00.000-07:00

So, here we are, packing out the apartment on the hottest day in Seattle history. We are out of our minds. Last night's Desperado show found me on stage in shorts, drinking vodka, playing every song in new tunings and facing an audience at an hour when I'm usually either sleeping or being startled awake by one of my night terrors. In other words, sheer chaos. Sorry if I was a little glassy-eyed last night, everybody ... I'm feeling overwhelmed by the gravity of our path.

2009-07-28T06:42:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday's End Times LC (Left Coast) show fulfilled every wish I harbored for it, and despite some slight exhaustion on my part we performed up to code, and perhaps even beyond it. My life with Lori is consumed by boxes and the day leading up to the evening of the show was spent finishing mixes on five of our eleven completed tracks so we'd have something to pass around to interested persons (while still not "finished" officially, the Three Dead Crows EP can be had for asking, and a few new tracks are up on MySpace). The heat, the traffic, the terror ... Abi kept me sane in the dressing room by talking me through a mild freakout (oh my God, thank you) and then we just did it like we always do, except perfectly and for the last time for a long time. But I hope not forever.

Tyson remarked on Saturday afternoon that I hadn't posted anything about the show here, as is my habit, and while the big reason for that is The Big Move (we roll out Friday morn) and all the activity that generates, the little reason is that I can't get my words together for what the End Times (past and present) meant to me. Both Tyson and Abi eulogized the band, saying far more than I can right now. But I have the feeling that I'll be writing about all this for the next decade at least ... these kids have given me much to consider.

Today is Tuesday, right? That means Desperado plays the Jewelbox tonight, so come see that, we'll be playing the exact same set you loved so much at the Wild Rose last month. We're on late, so plan accordingly.

PS. Lori and I have enjoyed an outpouring of love and support from a lot of friends as we prepare this transition into the next world. Thank you.

2009-07-26T18:52:00.000-07:00

A few more non-Polaroid shots of last night's End Times recital.

2009-07-26T10:30:00.000-07:00

Last night's End Times show was like this.

2009-07-21T15:58:00.000-07:00

You ever seen Targets?

Curiously, there's no mention of Boris Karloff, who turns in a great late-career performance in a pivotal role as a burned-out old movie star. At least he gets a brief salute in this next trailer ...

Anyhow, it's one of my favorite films, and its available for screening in its entirety on YouTube.