Hey y'all, it's your favorite intern, EschaTony, with a label update!
You mighta noticed the new link at the top what says 'CONTEST'. Wait, don't click it yet. First of all, nothing will happen. Second, you won't be able to read the rest of my blog.
In a couple days (and we'll let you know when, don't worry), you will have a chance to click on 'CONTEST' and win something pretty cool (and valuable) courtesy of Eschatone and The Visitors.
That was what's known in the biz as a 'tease'.
Here's another one:
We're THIS CLOSE to announcing a new signing - an amazing band whose first single (yeah, I said SINGLE) will blow you away this spring.
Tease tease tease! I'm so bad. Anyways, I gotta go. We're gettin a new cat (12-week-old British Shorthair kitten to be exact) at Eschatone HQ and I need to kitty-proof the office!
And yes, I am indeed working on a Sunday. I love this job!
In the last 2 weeks or so i've got to see some great live bands and old friends i havent crossed paths with in a while.#1 finaly got to see the AVENGERS at the BOWERY BALLROOM.Great show.The sound was great thanks to KENNY, GEORGE and crew.Some old friends,ERIC the RED,CHRIS,JEFF K. from TWO- MAN ADVANTAGE ,and KELLEY.Early sunday morn. did our PUNK magazine shoot. Tuesday the DWARVES on L.I. with ULTRA BASTARD,DEATHCYCLE,TWO-MAN and REAGAN YOUTH.Was great to see old friends RON G.,TWO-MAN,JEN-X,SEAN from THE CRUSHER,and CHUCK from UNDER THE VOLCANOE and ULTRA-BASTARD,HOWIE P.B.R.and MATT ex-REPERCUSSIONS now THE LORD HUMONGOUS and his bro. GREAT SHOWING of L.I.Helped my bud Glen break into his hipsay van in the ungodly cold right before the DWARVES went on.Didn't have much doe ,still managed to drink.Uncle JOE dove off the stage and kissed the floor.Tequila yahoo.Then to magnetic field for the INSOMNIACS.GREAT place, great show .The blonde chick at the door was cool.Glad to see TERRY T back in action.B.B.C. jewels had the much anticipated THIN LIZZY show.We're booking an APRIL tour and recieved alot of help from those old friends.And our album's out in stores FEB.13.LONG LIVE ROCKN" ROLL.DANNY
- The Visitors´ album is out! Go get it!
- Got news that we rehearse tomorrow!
- There´s a birthday in the family and I get a break from work and some cake!
- And the best part: I did understand what Domenic Maltempi was writing about in his latest blog entry! Yeah! Made me remember how I had to see a US judge once for running a stop sign. She lectured me for about 2 1/2 hours on how I have to respect not only American traffic laws but also America, the American Constitution and everything it stands for. And all that just because I used my "Me not from here I extrange student don´t know what Polizeimann talk about" routine on her - same thing that successfully got me into any 21-and-over show back then. But what had seemed to impress the bouncers at the OK Hotel so many times seemingly was lost on that local district Judge Judy. Man, she went from a moving violation to the Fifth Ammendment wich according to her interpretation obviously gave me the right to a due process despite my babbling in German. And let me tell you - I sure did pay my dues during that 2 1/2 hour process of her explaining to me en detail the rights and wrongs of driving in America. And respecting the Constitution. And the American People. And stop signs because they are apparently a big part of your constitutional history over there.
Even though Thorsten vs. the State of Washington ended in an acquittal I think I remember her making me read the Gettysburg Address before letting me go.
I learned my lesson.
t.
P.S.: Just because I´ve been asked a couple of times now - the crap on my TV set in the pictures of the old posts is pretty much my entire DVD collection: a 5 DVD aniversary box of The Godfather I, II, and III; Kissology - the ultimate DVD KISS collection Vol. 1: 1974-1977, and a bunch of burnt CDs with Family Guy episodes on them that someone was nice enough to give to me because the show´s not on over here.
I used to love visiting the Howard Johnson's in Times Square - with its funky beige interior, mummified waiters, and stacks of salt water taffy boxes by the cash register - and it broke my heart when they closed the place. I always wished somebody could've hung a time-lapse camera in the back corner on the day it opened, with a view through the dining room and out the windows so you could watch Times Square grow up outside while inside remained exactly the same.
In the stage version of Little Shop of Horrors, Seymour tells the audience that he wants to take Audrey out to a really nice restaurant... like Howard Johnson's. We put on Little Shop in high school and that line made the crowd laugh. I couldn't understand why - well, I could, but c'mon: if (as Bogie once said) a hot dog at a ballgame beats roast beef at the Ritz, then a plate of HoJo's fried clams is as swank as it gets.
Anyway, with no local HoJo, I poked around online for my fried-clam-n-peppermint-stick-ice-cream fix. Turns out there were only four Howard Johnson'ses left, two of which are in New York state but not particularly close. The nearest location was Waterbury, Connecticut, so Lucy and I planned a drive.
But no sooner did we Mapquest the Waterbury restaurant than news broke that the place had lost its license to sport the name and orange roof. We rerouted to the next-closest: Lake George.
I was frankly relieved - Connecticut is just about the most boringest place in the whole wide world. Yes, all of Connecticut. Lake George, on the other hand, is a vacation paradise. They have a haunted house and a wax museum. And a lake!
We left Manhattan at 9:00 yesterday morning and drove the Taconic north, arriving in Lake George around noon. Sure enough, that orange roof was the first thing we saw off the Northway exit. Great balls of excitement! We drove closer... there was a marquee out front with something about a buffet - and this:
CLOSED FOR SEASON
They left out Reason? Freezin!... but FUCK, man! That was a four-hour drive. And it wasn't just HoJo - the whole town was shut down, including the wax museum and the haunted house (apparently the ghosts had gone to haunt their winter home in Palm Beach). The lake was open. But it was frozen over.
The Lake George Winter Carnival was in effect, so we kicked around that for a while. We walked across the lake and did some Frozen Turkey Bowling (that is where you bowl with a frozen turkey, yes). Lucy scored a spare, which was pretty bragable. When those two activities got old (around 12:30) we decided to drive to Saratoga - where there were, presumably, warm places to sit and eat that might actually be open - and weigh our options.
Lucy and I share an inability to be denied; it's the ca-razy glue that holds our non-relationship together. And so we charted a course to Lake Placid, home of the only remaining Howard Johnson's within a day's drive. This time I called ahead - they were open, and would be until 10pm yo!
The drive to Lake Placid was a nightmare. It was dark before we were even halfway there and snow was blowing everywhere - from the sky, of course, but also from the sides of the winding road and up from the road itself. Visibility was minimal and the brights didn't help. I had to re-Mapquest the address from different locations as we ran into weather-related detours.
Downtown Lake Placid was an oasis in the snowy wilderness. Man, were we happy to see that Main Street. And just off it: Howard Johnson's. They didn't have any peppermint stick ice cream or salt water taffy, but there were plenty of perfect fried clams, giant burgers, and some creamy-crunchy butter pecan to top things off. Worth the trip? Shit, I'd do it again tomorrow, except I gotta work and make records.
The snowstorm passed in time for our drive home. Somewhere between Lakes Placid and George we pulled over to the shoulder, turned off the lights, poked our heads up through the moonroof and gasped at the primeval, star-strewn night sky.
Lecture 15: PRINCE - the original pop-punk rocker! sort of
Rehearsal today - so no TV for me! But I did watch Prince perform at the Superbowl the other day. Made me remember when I saw him in concert a long time ago. How come that all the musical talent of a whole generation was handed to this one miniature person? You know how they say that only a few people actually bought Ramones records but that each of those started a band. (Which by the way is completely true for us.) But what about all those people that saw Prince perform live and immediately gave up playing their instruments because all of a sudden it seemed so utterly foolish to even try? (Which by the way is almost true for me.) I bet they outnumber the ones with the Ramones records by far.
But we did play "I could never take the place of your man" today and we all pretty much agreed that if played right it is the quintessential pop-punk tune: three chords - awesome hook straight out of the major scale - let the guitar ring and the bass take over - add some basic drums - there you go. Maybe this is the solution. Just play a Prince song Ramones style and you don´t have to give up music after all.
And now for something completely different. I always thought I had at least some idea of the English language. You know, I study English literature and linguistics, watch movies in English, listen to radio in English, write papers in English - heck, I can even understand Chaucer without help. But I simply don´t get a single word of what Dominic Maltepi is posting here.
All I can say is that I´m a singer too and I continue to smoke as well. And let me add: Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote, the droghte of March hath perced to the roote, and bathed every veyne in swich licour, of which vertu engendred is the flour!
Yeah! Finally! Greatest day in sports today: Never mind the Superbowl - Team Handball World Cup finals! And also never mind chips, salsa, nachos and crappy beer. This is what bad ass hardcore punk rockers like us have when they´re watching a big game: fancy cake, tea and maybe some Dr. Pepper. That´s punk!
The Germans beat the Polish 29:24. So Germany now is Team Handball World Champion!
And again goalie No.1, World Handballer 2004, and wax.on wax.off homie HENNING FRITZ was the best man on the court. Well, at least up until halfway through the second half when he got injured during an awesome and game deciding safe!
Needless to say that our hearts stopped for a second. But even though he wasn´t able to return to the game we were happy to see him helping his team from the sideline. You can´t bring down a HENNIG FRITZ (goalie No.1, World Handballer 2004, and wax.on wax.off´s best friend)!
And also never mind all this showboating-ring-toting-Gatorate-showering-going-to-Disneyland BS. Over here real champions get a pair of crutches and a Burger King crown!
Real champions even wear that when they meet our president!
So, think about that when you watch the Bears kick the crap out of the Colts tonight!
I´ll bet the winner doesn´t get a Burger King crown!
And I´ll also bet by now our label boss Jed is serioulsy rethinking his "dudes, blog whatever you want" policy!
Lecture 12.5: Our close friend HENNING FRITZ did it again! yeah!
Guess what - no rehearsal today. So it´s back to the couch again for the Team Handball World Cup semi finals: France vs. Germany. This was one heck of a close game. It took the Germans two overtimes to defeat them snooty French and again goalie No.1, World Handballer 2004 , and wax.on wax.off´s closest friend HENNING FRITZ saved the day.
And I swear I heard him mentioning us in the post-game interview!
CART
