And... Go.

Merry Rump-Mas!

2007-12-24T13:41:00.000-05:00

In the traditional fashion for this festive season, I hereby present your recommended dosage of holiday cheer: GIANT GLOWING INFLATABLE SANTA BOOTY!

Have a wonderful holiday season, and don't say I never gave you nuthin'.

-PAR

Recapping.

2007-11-12T02:00:00.001-05:00

And then (and yes I know I'm suddenly re-establishing contact after a long silent stretch), I was a bit older.

And what remained was a weekend's worth of memories made up of blurred recollections and amazing food and digital photos and falling over giggling and many many many many MANY drinks and old friends catching up and some newer friends suddenly being missed and yet more fantastic cuisine and getting distracted and wandering off and unrequited love and stupid jokes and stolen kisses and immense affection and loose ends and missing polaroids and a few long-time collaborators notable in thier absence and early mornings and late nights and intersecting social circles and intending to go somewhere and ending up somewhere entirely different by mistake and disorientation and selective equilibrium and unanticipated tenderness and music and fun and not a lot of sleep and holding one another tightly and missed connections and happy coincidences and no matter what details we'd tweak if we could, general awesomeness.

It was a great time. I look forward to reconstructing it someday, and in the meantime, moving full speed ahead.

Thanks to one and all.

-PAR

We now pause for a brief message.

2007-09-14T14:25:00.000-04:00

Quiet.

2007-08-31T22:23:00.000-04:00

Things have been kinda crazy since I got back from California, but I guess I just haven't felt much like talking. At least, not in this forum.

More when I begin feeling a little more conversational again.

-PAR

Off to the opposite coast.

2007-08-03T04:27:00.000-04:00

And with that, I run off to California. Back soon, getting settled, housewarming, and all that other stuff commences.

But 'til then... Ten days of beach and lovely weather and family and recreation. Awesome.

More soon (when I return if not before).

-PAR

Counting minutes and waiting and planning and worrying and dreaming.

2007-07-28T19:16:00.000-04:00

Five days 'til flying to California. Five days of organizing and getting things squared and not having time to spend with wonderful girl and working and shuffling things around from bag to bag so I have proper articles of clothing and other things needed for ten days of goofing off by the ocean. Started making lists of things as I think of them in order to forget as little as possible. Dealing with details of new apartment that will be sitting ready when I return, making sure things like electricity and some manner of sleeping arrangement are in place.

It's a stretch of inertia and powerlessness and desperation and heatwave and just-put-my-head-down-and-power-through-it-dammit that I know leads somewhere better, but is really frustrating in the meantime. Having just enough time to worry and overthink while not being able to set everything straight or participate in all the awesome things that're happening all around.

But it's only a few days. I keep reminding myself. And even in this, there's a few scattered seconds that remind me that it's all worth it. A quick quiet drink with the girl and stealing a moment away from everyone else. Ending up on a block I don't recognize and getting to explore another tiny piece of this crazy city. Even having a quick stretch at work when everything falls into place and I can get into a groove for a few minutes.

A few more of those, and I escape to the West Coast. And when I come back, a bunch of new adventures await.

-PAR

Currently:

2007-07-16T04:14:00.000-04:00

Exhausted. Run a bit ragged. Wistful for the ocean. Waiting for a moment to pause and think. In the final stretch to get finances and housing squared. Planning trip west. Up far too late. Trying to turn down the sound and images spinning in my brain. Wondering at the incredible city I live in. Wishing I had more time to devote to family. Imagining how music can fit together, and wondering if I have the means to execute it. Stressed. Stupidly busy. Somehow still moving forward. Excited. Determined. Hopeful. Totally smitten.

More soon.

-PAR

Today is a lovely day to run.

2007-07-07T18:00:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I wrote anything here. The last few weeks have seen my life turned upside-down in fairly comprehensive fashion, and I expect the next few will continue the trend.

The cafe has re-opened, and I'm back making coffee and working seven days / week (between two jobs). I've moved out of the apartment I was in for the past 4 years, put nearly everything I own into a Manhattan Mini-Storage space on the Westside Highway, and am staying on couches and floors of friends for the next few weeks. If all goes well, will have a new (bigger and better) place come August, living with my old pal Will in the Lower East Side. Gonna be DJing at NuBlu on the 20th of this month with a couple friends (which should be AWESOME). Have set August 3rd-13th as the dates for my next swing through California, staying in Santa Cruz with family, catching up with friends, and doing lots of wandering around.

And in the midst of all this, I somehow end up dating an amazing girl.

Days become a blur of work and running around and iced beverages and rock shows and movies and listening to music and dealing with realtors and going out dancing and making piles of boxes and figuring out how to pack bags and going to sleep and waking up and rooftop parties and plotting events for the next few months and falling head-over-heels for someone.

Ah, summertime.

-PAR

The Sound Of Summer.

2007-06-02T18:42:00.000-04:00

The song of the summer will be Kanye West and Daft Punk's "Stronger".

In-f***ing-credible.

I've so far only heard it as a minute-long clip on a mixtape and as an mp3 taken from a radio broadcast in the UK (which has the DJ talking over large portions of it). It's not officially released for a little while. And it's already my new favorite thing. It tears Daft Punk's classic "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" apart, and then rebuilds it as an unstoppable juggernaut of synth-fueled hip-hop grandeur. A beat to slay the mightiest dancefloor, and the best lyrics of anything Kanye's done by far.

"Let's get lost tonight. You could be my black Kate Moss tonight. Play secretary on the boss tonight..."

This is the jam. This will be the tune to drop at every party. This will create sex on the dancefloor in a way nothing has in a few years.

That is all. You heard it here first.

-PAR

Essential Services.

2007-05-21T21:08:00.000-04:00

It's funny, I've worn through probably four or five pairs of batts since moving to New York. And every time, I've just had to throw the old ones out and buy new ones. If only I'd known that there's a place on the Westside Highway that specializes in re-facking them...

-PAR

Images of springtime...

2007-05-17T15:35:00.000-04:00

A quick flip backwards through some pictures from the last few months. (Now that I'm able to get things from my Trekphone to my laptop again...)

Lots of crazy. Lots of fun. Lots more to come.

-PAR

Last Day At The Cafe.

2007-04-29T23:02:00.000-04:00

This past Monday was the final day of the coffeeshop. Before catching my bus down to Charlottesville, I dropped by, did shots with my bosses and coworker, chatted with my best buddy Angus (who's thwee and a hawf), made fun of the guy who was asleep against the memorial wall, and spent a few last minutes goofing around at Alt.

In a few weeks we'll rise again, like a phoenix from the ash and rubble. Renovated, clean, more family-friendly, with expanded menu and a new name and logo... But this was a last huzzah for the old-guard East Village hang-out that we knew as Alt.Coffee. Nice way to go out.

-PAR

Nonsensical and awesome.

2007-04-21T20:53:00.000-04:00

Then, one day, it's seventy degrees outside and margaritas start seeming like the best idea in the world. Time to start seeking out rooftops and patios.

I'm catching a bus down to Charlottesville on Monday. Spending the better part of the week there, with few places to be or events to attend. An actual real-live vacation.

Yeah. Spring is thus far a totally disjointed series of phrases and images that I'm not even trying to form into a cohesive whole. It's just stuff happening and things flashing by and falling-over tired and laughing a lot. The music needs to be louder. Sure, I'd love another drink. You're doing what? I'd love to, but I'll forget, could you remind me later? We need more of that. Open the windows. Yes, move to New York. Check THAT out. Yeah, I should probably get more sleep. High-five! Yes, please. I'll get to that one in a second. You like-a that one so much, we playa it for you again now. Easy, buddy. Faster. Tomorrow? HELL YEAH.

Big complicated sandwiches. Grindhouse. Ted Leo. Booker T. & The MG's. The Orange Juice Man, in his BIG orange wig. Hot Dice! Kahlua and iced coffee. Wind whipping up Second Avenue. Patron on the rocks. Sgt. Fury & His Howling Commandoes. Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde. There's this girl. Old Elton John records. I wonder what I'll be like when I grow up. Cold, rainy evening. That issue where they have to help the Sub-Mariner, but he never finds out. Gotta pay taxes. Cameraphones. Stevie Wonder's "Down To Earth". Almost bedtime. North, South, East, West! Bears!

* * * * *

And I expect life'll only get more absurd as the weather gets warmer and my surroudings keep transforming. Awesome. It'll be fun to see what happens next.

-PAR

Third in a series.

2007-04-15T15:09:00.000-04:00

It won't stop raining in NYC. And it's not quite warm enough to be enjoyable. It's just a cold and wet and dreary. Rain not even coming down, but streaming horizontally so umbrellas don't make much difference.

Iced coffee is all that's coming between me and falling over, giving in to the 80-odd hour work week I'm winding up. Well, iced coffee and Mike Doughty's redition of "Looks" coming over the stereo. Perfect rainy day tunage.

This upcoming week: the last few days of working at the coffeeshop before we close for renovation/transformation. Seeing a rock show with a cute girl. General exhaustion, margaritas with friends, dealing with taxes, buying tix for my trip to Ch'ville at the end of the month.

Transmission continuing soon.

-PAR

Second in a series.

2007-03-25T15:47:00.000-04:00

...And the next thing you know, it's full-on springtime. Daylight savings shakes everything up, time starts accelerating, kick the windows open to get some fresh air and turn up the stereo. My life suddenly kicks back into high gear between theater gig, planning next visit back to Ch'ville, being smitten with girl and pop music, other as-yet-nameless project taking too much of my time, coffeeshop what I work at closing to renovate, planning next stage of DJ career, and all the usual idiot revelry that comes with the being young and foolish.

-PAR

First in a series.

2007-03-04T19:16:00.000-05:00

Yeah, so I've been quiet for a while... Busy with all manner of stuff. Friends visiting, applying for some theatre design work, spending the usual amount of time at my places of employment, listening to amazing pop music, going to incredible concerts, reveling in the craziness as winter shifts gears and begins tempting us with notions of springtime.

I offer this by way of explaining what I've been doing instead of writing here.

Ramblings, pictures, and other nonsense will now resume transmitting on a more regular basis. I hope.

-PAR

Items O' Interest.

2007-01-28T15:51:00.000-05:00

There's a bunch of new pics up on Mallfellows, taken over recent visits back to Charlottesville. (Two galleries by me, one by The Artist Formerly Known As benjones.)

Working on lining up a few more dance-party-DJ-things, both here and down in Chville. More info soon, with luck.

And let's not forget, it's almost January 31st! And you know what that means?

So stock up on bananas, pull your ape suit out of the closet, and enjoy this most festive of days. But beware of the odd abominable snowman wandering around amongst the apes... They can turn vicious.

(All the latest and most up-to-date gorilla suiting info can be found over at Mark Evanier's "News From Me", of course.)

-PAR

And Two-Double-Oh-Seven ensues.

2007-01-22T04:15:00.000-05:00

Back in the big city. Back for a week now, and just beginning to get back in the groove of everyday life.

Time in Charlottesville was fantastic. Saw nearly everyone I needed to see, played a couple great parties, designed a show that was everything I hoped, had plenty of time to just goof around and start feeling at home again. Long days, longer nights-into-mornings, walking and hitching rides and working hard and exploring the city I used to know backwards. Getting home as the sun's rising. Sleeping in far later than I should. Seeing the family, having a much-delayed holiday, eating, conversing, making merry. Afternoons reading and drinking coffee, or on top of a ladder moving lights about to create a space that I envisioned. Evenings in rehearsals or playing records, then to the teahouse for beverages and plotting the next stage of mischief. Impromptu after-hours rock shows. The C&O with bundles of friends, creating ruckus, conversing, catching up, cutting up, disrupting the nice quiet lives of the staff. Up late into the night playing Risk and pinball and Katamari, eating popcorn, rolling dice, drinking sake and rye whiskey and red wine, getting crushes on girls, watching old movies, being young and laughing a lot and generally having a blast.

Can't wait to do it again.

-PAR

Party People, Rock The House.

2006-12-28T13:34:00.000-05:00

In addition to the aforementioned James Brown Memorial Dance Party on Saturday night, there's more DJ insanity scheduled for the next couple weeks in Charlottesville...

As it stands: Saturday is the Soul Brother #1 tribute (in place of our annual pre-NYE shindig). Sunday I'm spinning all night at a New Year's party (details on request). Then, January 5th I'm the DJ for a big-ass throwdown at Live Arts. Mark your datebooks now...

More fun and excitement TBA. Stay Tuned...

-PAR

Saturday Night in Charlottesville...

2006-12-27T15:48:00.000-05:00

On Saturday night at the Tea House in Charlottesville, we're throwing a dance party...

----------
"WHY IS THAT, LADIES?" - A Dance Party Tribute To James Brown. With DJ J. Pinkerton and DJ Hummingbird Feeder. At the Twisted Branch Tea Bazzar on the Downtown Mall. 9PM-2AM. No cover, donations welcome.

----------

So yeah. I'm spinning (as DJ J. Pinkerton), my buddy James is also (as DJ Hummingbird Feeder). Because the passing of James Brown is something to be noted. If not for him, 99% of dance music would not be.

So show up, say hey, and bust a move to commemorate the Hardest Warking Man In Show Business.

-PAR

Ending radio silence...

2006-12-16T22:31:00.000-05:00

The holiday insanity is upon us, and I'm finally finding a moment to get back to my little corner of the internets.

So.

I'm gonna be in New York thru Christmas, then heading down to Charlottesville on the 27th. Will be in town thru January 12th or so, working on various projects and being my usual ne'er-do-well self.

On December 29th, we're throwing our annual pre-new-year's Hot Hot Dance Party. (Location TBA.)

January 5th, I'm DJing at Live Arts for a big-ass volunteer appreciation / year in review shindig. It's free, and it's a great space and great people.

January 12th, "Thom Pain" opens at Live Arts. I'm designing the lights and sound, and it will be awesome. Great show, great director, and my first work designing at Live Arts since I moved out of Chville.

There's more stuff afoot too, but I'll get to that later.

-PAR

Working Vacation.

2006-10-06T12:33:00.000-04:00

Heading to Charlottesville in a few hours... Gonna be hangin' around for a week. DJing an old pal's wedding tomorrow, spinning a gig at Rapture with some friends on Tuesday, then another gig on Thursday. In between, doing the sit around, catch up with people, drink coffee, and generally be a slacker thing. Back to NYC on the 13th.

Yeah.

-PAR

The Great Lakes Wu-Tang!

2006-09-20T00:58:00.000-04:00

I'm talking to a friend the other day about the long and storied career of the Wu-Tang Clan. And about the members of said hip-hop ensemble who have had, to put it bluntly, underwhelming careers. To say nothing of the innumerable side projects that the Wu have sponsored, lent variations on their logo to, or been loosely affiliated with.

And we hypothesized that U-God should've just been spun off years ago to captain his own, lesser chapter of the Wu elsewhere. Like the West Coast, no, not even... The Great Lakes Wu-Tang!

[If you happen not to be a comic book geek and a hip-hop fanatic, background on why this is funny can be found here and here.]

-PAR

Lost Dog.

2006-08-30T02:20:00.000-04:00

Spotted this taped to a phone booth on Avenue A.

-PAR

California part three: Santa Cruz & Capitola

2006-08-19T23:51:00.000-04:00

Snapshots from the remainder of the time spent on the West Coast. As ever, you can click on any of 'em to embiggen. I'm now back in NYC, and slowly getting myself up to speed again... Vacation over. Back to work, and life, and gigs, and all the rest.

-PAR