Rocktober 31st

This month was non-stop action, but this past week has been pure insanity.  Shows, Justice CD, shows, shows, Halloween, tired.  I am limping through today.  (possibly due to excessive sugar consumption rather than tiredness- but I digress...)

Last week, there were shows from Tuesday -Saturday.  Hunnypot, Bleeding Knees Club, Trentemoller, Anamanaguchi, Eras.

The highlight of the show week was a tie between Eras and Anamanaguchi.  Very different vibes-- one was dark noise, one was 8-BIT NOISE WITH TEENAGERS AND JBLOCH!  They rocked the Troub for the best all ages show since ever.

Here are some pics from Anamanaguchi/FIDLAR/Starscream:

Yeah- glowsticks rained down upon the crowd like manna from video game heaven.

Owning the neon!

Mosh Pit filled with 15-18 yr olds!  Crowdsurfing, too!!!

Possibly my favorite show of the year!

Too much awesome for me to handle.  I am wiped out today....and...oh yeah.  today is Halloween.

Our day of celebration was really Saturday, but there is talk of heading to WeHo for a look-see at the parade.  Is it really a parade?  OR a bunch of randos walking around getting uncomfortably close to you?  Only time will tell.

Back to Saturday's events.

We went shopping a few hours before Zombie call time, and found some interesting things:

Disturbing packaging art on a pirate costume.

Dylan now has a set of three upsetting skeleton hands.

Dylan also revolutionized the snack world by creating a chocolate donut sandwich.  It really is beyond genius.  Two chocolate ones frosting-side in.

At CJ's zombie party, the undead were out in full force.  We all converged upon John's house (without John- he was at a wedding while we were partying at his house.  Don't worry -  he showed up eventually.)  Margot and CJ decorated the house in a most spooky manner, and provided only the finest in horror-themed refreshments:

There were princess zombies:

There were giant zombies:

There were pious zombies:

There was Rob Zombie (not Serj):

There was Zom-bee Girl (me!!)

And classy zombies:

And he was FINE, OK!?  He's fine!

Luckily- Zombies love to party [with small glasses of water]:

And play [apple juice] pong:

After a few hours of scrounging for booze and brains, we headed out to see Nathaniel's (ERAS) show.  He was playing a room in a dark, creepy performance art space in Santa Monica:

Across the room from his setup, there was a naked man in an apron cutting up a girl wrapped in saran wrap, doused in fake blood propped up in front of a giant wall of pornography:

p.s. The low light setting on my camera makes it look like daytime in here.  It was actually quite dark.

It was.... Interesting.  As was the rest of the space.  Performers were shaving each other into a bucket, wrestling and screaming on couches and floors, hiding under tables and yelling at dolls, simulating sex under a pile of raw meat, fighting in dressing rooms, and hacking up bodies.  The usual for a Saturday night.  KIDDING- its not what we usually do.  But it felt as close as I'm ever gonna get to 'Eyes Wide Shut':

It was a surprisingly fun/ messed up experience.  And I was extra happy to be dressed as a giant bee.  It was like a protective wall of ridiculousness.  None of the performers could harass me without breaking character-- because really- what do you say to threaten a giant bee?

Case in point- girl under table:

yes, this needs some shoppin' - I'll get there eventually.

After we got our our fill of confusion & darkness, we headed back to Zombieland and proceeded to get Zombie crunk through the powers of [apple juice] pong:

They were gloating:

But shouldn't have, because we were team awesome and most likely would have won:

But we fell prey to distractions:

And then Rob Zombie lost his goatee and I turned into Skrillex:

And the game was thankfully ended in a truce.

The end!   Congrats to you if you've stuck with me for the entire party recap!!!



**Hopefully there will be more tales of Halloween fun after the parade tonight!**

The Gonz

The Gonzo isn't feeling well.  He took a bad jump while Dylan and I were at work.  Dylan got home and found him walking weird and arching his back.  Dylan tried petting him, and the dog almost passed out.  OFF TO THE VET!!

Hours, x-rays, $$$, and bottles of meds later-- we found out that Gonzo probably slipped a disc.  He's on opiates and has to be kept in confinement for 3 weeks.  He can't jump or walk stairs or do anything sudden.  This will keep him from injuring his vertebrae further and requiring major surgery.  Hopefully, he'll make a speedy recovery and we can avoid surgery.  In the meantime- he's pretty woozy and snoozy.

Everyone keep Gonzo in your thoughts (and prayers if you do that sort of thing).  He's the best little man of all time and I don't like seeing him in pain :(

Its hard having to face the truth that my little man won't always be around.  I adopted him as a grown pup, so our time together might be shorter than the average pet experience.  Its a reality that has always seemed so far off and abstract, that I never really dwelled.  Gonzo's accident made me freak the f- out.  Garbanzobean is mortal?!?!?!  NOOOOOOO!  He is possibly 12 now.  Ugh.  Can't even.
I love my little best friend so much.

I saw, ISAM, I Conquest!

This has been a weekend of epic proportions.

Friday started with a half-day from work since we're moving into our newly refurbished office suites.   After a good nap and hangover recovery from the Wild Beasts show of the previous night, (great show/ great Toto dancing!), Patrick and I went to dinner at Lou.  Its a hoity-toity wine bar hidden in a nondescript strip mall called 'Melrose Place.'  The convincing factor for our patronage that evening was its proximity to a hot wing joint named 'Flamin' Patty's'.  Flamin' Patty's and Melrose Place... it was practically slapping us in the face and telling us to drizank some vinos!

Well, we had some disappointing rose in a high-design setting.  Halfway through our meal, Leonardo Di Caprio sat down at the uncomfortably close table immediately next to us.  After me staring at him trying to understand why his face was so familiar... I understood what was going on.  THAT HE WAS A MOVIE STAR!!   Then, I lived the dream by inceptioning Leo-- he looked at my plate and was all 'the farro looks really good.'  AND HE ORDERED IT!  (Veggie) Inception.

Last night was more epic than seeing the star of Titanic eat overpriced food.  We got crunk at Medieval Times for JB's 33rd birthday.   We were team yellow- so everyone wore yellow shirts and crowns, and looked mildly jaundiced.

Rockin' the yeller.

The yellow champion and King JB (birthday boy)

Our knight was pretend eviscerated.  

Sippin' JD from my ye olde novelty crunk mug.

There is no silverware in medieval times, but luckily they have styrofoam leftover containers.

Yeeeellooooow!

We were the loudest group... by far.  And aside from JB, who looked radiant-- the rest of us should not wear yellow shirts.
OOH! and the best threat of the evening happened in the bathroom line- when a mother was questioning her child's integrity by uttering the following gem:  "Do you *really* have to go to the bathroom?  Because God KNOWS when you're lying.  Becky, he knows when you lie!  He knows!"
Yeah.  Expert parenting.

After this medieval madness, Dylan and I hopped in the Mazdang and drove to Pomona's lovely Fox Theater to catch one of the most mind bending shows I've ever seen.  Amon Tobin built a giant monolith of 3D cubes that are actually screens that he performs inside of.  Its unreal.  There is a 35 ft. wall of amazement as well as a semi-blistering wall of bass.  The best way to describe the experience is 'traumatic in a good way.'  Dylan likened it to the musical equivalent of 'Saving Private Ryan.'
After the show, Dylan, James, Nate, and I were just standing there looking at each other.  There weren't words.
We drove home in silence.

Here are some youtube attempts at relaying the glory:

If this show comes to you..... SEE IT.
In fact, it was so great- we're going again tonight.  In two hours.  Maybe I should start getting ready to go?

New Job

Its official - I have a new job!  Being a superstitious person, I didn't feel good announcing my happy news until I was safely seated at my new desk.  Now that day 1 of the new gig is complete, its cool to let 'er fly!

I am a proud employee of Sony/ATV Music Publishing!!!  Yaaaay!!!  Back to representing the Beatles, Fever Ray, Empire of the Sun, and waaaaaay more EMI crossover that I don't know yet.  What's very exciting is they actually have hits at Sony.  We are lucky enough to administer publishing for Lady Gaga, Pitbull, Beyonce, Britney, Taylor Swift, and a bunch of other superstars!  

It feels amazing to be back in music.  I already love my department, and can't wait to get trained and start kicking serious ass.  After being in the new office for 15 minutes, I felt that I had come home.  My confidence as an employee has returned.  Its great being hopeful about my professional future again!  And I can wear jeans every day!

Downside- I sit immediately next to the snack area.  So many delicious (and free!) candies and chips and fruits and crackers and oatmeals and snapples and waters and sodas.. oh my.   This will be an excellent opportunity to work on my self-control.