Too Much

There's too much.

Too much to hear.

Too much to see.

Too much to read.

I am overwhelmed by external stimuli.


Wait, I should probably backtrack a bit, seeing as how I haven't blogged in well over a month.

Things are good. Pretty, pretty good. S' funny- when I don't write for a while, I get e-mails asking me if I'm okay, because people usually assume that if I'm not constantly blogging, I'm either dead, in jail, or in some sort of chemically induced coma. Nothing could be further from the truth (although, I have been known to skate around the edges of a chemically induced coma lately- good times). Folks need to have more faith in my ability to constantly and consistently court disaster while escaping by the skin of my teeth.

I'm cool like that.

So, yeah, it's been a while since my last post. Much has happened. I had a little over a month off from work when my delivery truck went "KER-FLOOEY" (which is the true and accurate sound a cracked engine block makes when you're driving 60 miles an hour in a 25 mile an hour zone. Uphill. Scary stuff. I was fairly certain that I was about to die from a wayward piston fired through the firewall, piercing my ribcage and bisecting my blackened, little heart. Which, in retrospect, would've been kind of cool). My boss is notoriously cheap, and that's why it took him over a month to finally shell out the ducats for a new engine. With The Holidays fast approaching, he realized he needs me around to organize, deliver, and set up the many catering orders we get for Christmas parties each year. I am a Valued Employee. Or something. I tried to convince him to purchase a brand new truck, since the current one is pretty much a turd on wheels, to no avail. Drat.

My month off of work was spent being so unproductive that I'm almost (almost) ashamed. I got into the habit of staying out all night (seriously, all night-as in, getting home at 7am and shit), ingesting any and all alcohol and drugs put in front of me, and generally behaving as if every night was my last night before being called away to The Great Beyond (which I believe is located somewhere in Canada). I was a bad, bad boy. It was awesome.

I wasn't completely useless, however. I spent a few days doing Manly Work with Big Al. He hired me to help him remove shutters, and sand and repaint the trim on a big ol' house in a town whose name escapes me at this particular moment. It was a fun few days, actually getting up in the morning (as opposed to still being up in the morning from the previous night's festivities), donning "work clothes" (a flannel shirt, ragged jeans, construction boots, and heavy work gloves), having a bagel and a coffee, and then climbing a ladder three stories up to use screw guns, hammers, and paint brushes. Manly Work, indeed. Plus, every day we indulged in a 16 oz. beer at lunch, which is Extra Manly.

I also spent one Friday evening as an "Assistant DJ" at a Tommy Hilfiger charity fashion show in Pearl River, NY. The work was easy (running wires, setting up speakers and lights, and stealing food from the models' lounge), the pay was good, and I got to watch a bunch of hot chick models change between sets. Seriously, those gals just change all together in a big room in front of each other, and as a "DJ's Assistant" I had all access to that very room. There is a God. I even met Tommy Hilfiger, which really wasn't that exciting, considering I have no fashion sense. Remember, I buy all of my clothes at Sears, because I am Rugged and Manly.

Aside from all of that, I've been gigging a lot. Between Menthol Box, The Pants Rabbits, and Dirty Jersey, I've barely had time to join thirteen other bands. I'm no longer in Quick Kill Formula (we'll leave it at "creative differences," because the whole story would take too long to type, and it's not even that interesting of a tale), but I've been doing a bit of writing on my own, and if I ever save up enough dough to buy some sort of home recording system, I can get that shit on disc.


At this point, I shall endeavor to get to the point of this blog:


There is too much. I am a Media Sponge, and I can't keep up anymore.


I have a stack of comic books I've recently purchased (about $200 worth) that I need to read. The thing is- they're all really well written, well drawn books that I want to take my time with, to absorb and internalize. I have not the time. Yesterday, I bought the DVD release of "Clerks II," which has about five hours worth of bonus material, which I am compelled to watch, because I am a nerd for that kind of shit. I have not the time. I also bought the soundtrack to "Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny," which was a kickass movie. I can't seem to stop listening to it, since I enjoyed the flick so much. More on The D in a minute...

My shopping spree also included the "Lost Crowes" double disc. It's two albums worth of tunes that were never released by the Black Crowes, some recorded in '93, and the rest in '97. The Crowes were pretty much the soundtrack to my life in The 90's, and I can't wait to dive into those discs. I have not the time.

Then, last night I found out that TOM WAITS just released a THREE DISC SET called "Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards." It's a bunch of songs (54 in total) that are either new or previously unavailable to the public. So, I left work early ("Valued Employee" my ass), and hit up three (THREE!!!) places until I found one store's only remaining copy of the album (Sound Exchange in Wayne is like Mecca to me). It was $49.95. Sheeeit. I don't give a flying fuck, I bought it. I'm listening to it as I write this, and I would gladly pay twice the listed price to hear these songs. Tom Waits is transcendent.

On top of all of the shit I bought this week, I still have to buy (and watch) the new DVD release of "Superman Returns" (with a ton of bonus features), the Richard Donner version of "Superman II", and the double disc set of "An Evening with Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder."

Plus, I'm still watching the Comedy Central nightly reruns of "Scrubs" (Dr. Cox is my new hero), "Heroes" every Monday night ("Save the cheerleader, then go down on her, because she's hot."), and the NBC Thursday night line-up of shows ("My Name Is Earl," "The Office," "Scrubs," and "30 Rock.")

On top of all of that media saturation, Leviathan has been foolish enough to leave her PS2 at my house, along with the two "Star Wars Lego" games, which I cannot seem to stop playing. I have always been, and shall remain, a sucker for All Things Star Wars.

Speaking of Leviathan (who is consistently proving to be a genuine Cool Gal, and I attempt to repay her friendship and generous sharing of prescription medication by turning her onto good music such as Tom Waits and anything Mike Patton touches)- she scored four tickets to the TENACIOUS D concert at MSG this Friday. James, Missy, Leviathan, and myself are the proud owners of FLOOR SEATS for the gig. The tickets are $120 each, and well worth every penny. THE FUCKIN' D, bitches!!!

Saturday is another Dirty Jersey gig in Brooklyn, and Sunday is my weekly pilgrimage to hang with The Mouje at The BAG.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this in my blog yet, but I'm going to see CLUTCH on December 29th and the 30th at Starland Ballroom. TWO NIGHTS OF CLUTCH!!! Even better, my pal, Noelle, is driving up from Maryland to accompany me to the gig on the 30th.

2006 started out quite badly. In fact, it damn near killed me. Luckily, perseverance is rewarded with good fortune. I haven't felt this positive in a long time.

(These Tom Waits discs are so fucking good...)


More soon, because if I don't blog every few days, Blogspot makes me type in my password, which I can never remember. Fascists.