Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Thanxgiving photos, as promised...

Thanxgiving went very well, mom was quite surprised! And now the photos:


(Above) This is 'M' and 'S.' 'S' is sporting her new tattoo and 'M' is showing off her coat, circa 1870! She buys her vintage clothes at the Hidden Pearl.


Here are my niece and nephew, 'D' and 'F.' They started to dance right after i took this photo.


My new nephew, 'd.' He slept the entire time, and was dressed like a little snowman.


'M' and I.


My sister and I. We tend not to stray too far from the gene pool. She's cuter than me, AND SHE'LL BE THE FIRST TO TELL YOU THAT!

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Hammy...




I'm going to fulfill my mother's wishes and put on a few pounds this weekend. but while i'm away, i'll be planning some cool new things for Official Rumors. here's what you'll have to look forward to when i return:

• The Puzzlin' Puzzler: a weekly quiz just for you!
• More Featured Profiles of people I know and why you should hate them!
• Recipies for you to share and eat.
• Other wierd stuff from home.

Until then, have a great holiday!

Fishy fishy in a brook...



Happy Thanksgiving everyone! These nice folks offer their crop's yield! i'll be on vacation for the next skajillion days, so i thought i'd leave you all with something nice. you can copy this picture (i did!) and email it to everyone you know.
i love and hate all and most of you,

-b

Monday, November 21, 2005

Feature Profile: Kelly Marino



I'll probably get in trouble for this. Regular readers of this blog may be familiar with the tale of Kelly Marino, a good friend of mine who performed an act of emotional betrayal on yours truly. (I don't have a recent photo of her, so I used an image of a desk, which is a good example of what her personality was like). Basically, she started dating a co-worker of ours and when they became engaged, she turned to me one day and said: i don't need you as my friend anymore.

I shit you not. she actually said this to me out of the blue. I like to think I had been a good friend to her; we did homework together, watched movies, I brought her popcicles when she had her adnoids out, etc. Stood by her through thick and thin (illnesses, emotional crises, etc).

And that's how it ended. Kelly passed away* shortly thereafter. I'm pretty sensitive to stuff like this, so I took it quite hard when she just ENDED our friendship like that.

* she was skiing in colorado when a 747 jet liner slammed into the slope she was on, destroying everything in a 1 mile radius.**

** she didn't really die, that's just what I tell people. She's dead to me. She lives in Ohio.

So yes, I hold grudges, I'm pretty fragile, I'm a jerk. These are not things I'm proud of. Kelly was a friend of mine. There were many before her, there will be many after.

If you're reading this and you happen to be a friend of mine: Thank you for being that friend.

I'll be sulking today, if anyone needs to get a hold of me.

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Nonsuch...


I had this idea. i found these old woodcut images and i'm wondering if they'd make a good tarot deck. saw some great live jazz last night. we arrived around 730 and ran into lots of people, current and new. the level of talent and quality of the music is really getting better. I met 'R' who says he can't read sheet music but that doesn't matter because he's a jazz musician, and all that takes is heart.

Happy birthday to everyone this week. sorry i missed you, "K." Hope you're feeling better.

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Talent, vigor, drive...



...i'll eat peanut butter for the rest of my life.


so i used to be in a band, the greatest band that never was. my friend and former co-worker 'jw' and i made up our band, XO. a very simple name that commented on the duality of man, the contrast and connection between male and female, and some other nonsense. i would write lyrics and jw would put it to music on his guitar. and we would crank out songs like they were possessed animals that had to pee so badly they were forcing their way out of steel cages! we were so close to recording a demo disc...
then we lost jw to corporate downsizing. but we were soooo good! dammit!
here are the songs we put together for our first set:

dither and dive (original)
in your dress (original)
push (original)
bela lugosi's dead (bauhaus)
primary (the cure)
hell (squirrel nut zippers)

dammit...

i'm on a new quest to start a different band: Hi-fi Lullabye

who's with me????

cheers,
-b

Story of my life...


"Once upon a time we thought we were free
And had control over destiny
We saw ourselves a competent band
Able to reason, prosper and plan
But we had a chamber up in the moon
Circumstance made us change our tune
When the veil was torn from our face
We became the monkeys riding the race..."

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

The New Mixer...


'd' brought his own booze to the halloween party, labeled it, and set it next to the torch fuel. so i took this photo.

today was a good day. It seems i've found a friend among the storm (which happens to actually be tearing tree limbs down outside right now). i'm thankful for that.

Time and tide...


I'd hate to think this whole thing is for nothing. Well I keep meeting interesting people at the bistro. Welcome "K" who has a blog on this site. She could become one of us. Got in an argument with a regular customer (or irregular, as he is both a schizophrenic and a drunk) over U.S. policy and the war. My latest line has simply become "please don't ask my opinion on this." But he didn't listen. People, if I'm going to get killed for a word, that word sure as hell won't be 'freedom.' jesus....

Friday, November 11, 2005

Hell with the lid off...

So last night at the Bistro, i made a new friend. We'll call her 'A' for now. She's from Birmingham, Alabama. i've been to Birmingham. Writer H.L. Menken once described the city of Pittsburgh during the 60's as "...hell with the lid off." At that time, Pittsburgh was an industrial blue-collar town whose primary role was to forge steel in huge molten blast furnaces. The winter skies would be burned black with smoke and soot and the whole city had a depressing feel to it (watch the movie "The Deer Hunter" if you don't believe me). Anyhoo, since Birmingham has become known as the "Pittsburgh of the South" for being the second-largest steel producing city in the U.S. i feel that Menken's words are an apt description for that place. My stay in Birmingham lasted for 2 days, and in that stretch i blew a tire on a busy highway, ran over a piece of concrete in the middle of the road that tore out some vital organs underneath my car, was knocked down in a resturaunt brawl, and had no cell phone service for most of the time. i've got to say, if the government wanted to hide an alien hybrid, develop exparamental aircraft or assimilate a foreign political refugee secretly into the public Birmingham Alabama would be the place to do it. No one would want to look there. It's that bleak.

But i digress. 'A' is a charming girl with a lovely accent who moved to Memphis in search of something better. I'll have to let her down easy on that one. But her boyfriend plays poker for a living. i mean, really, this guy's job (his income, his means of supporting himself and 'A') is to play cards for money. F*cking hell. Either he's incredibly lazy and dangerous, or he's on to something. So i've dug deep into my little brain to see if there are OTHER ways of making a living that perhaps i've overlooked:
• i could watch ESPN, memorize last night's scores, and regurgitate them to people on the street for money.
• I could follow people to BestBuy when they want to purchase a new video game, and offer to beat the game for them for money.
• i could sit next to some member of upper management and verbally support whatever idea he comes up with, for money.
• i could play solitaire for money.
• i could stand in as an extra family member if their boy is over seas, sharing meals with his family and posing for family photos, for money.
• i could just get back to work, which is what they're paying me to do right now...

Everybody now...



I'm going to try to make open-mic night at the bistro again soon. i should really learn a new song or two, so i'll open it up for requests. just post a comment and i'll do my best.

Fly and Stain...


"Patiently I wait for you to open your eyes. It is by My Will alone that you draw breath..."

--Tzeentch

(my latest photoshop creation)

This band knows how to tear it up...



A picture from D and B's halloween party: they had a band playing cover songs. amusingly enough, this was both their first show together and their last. they didn't even have a name. but they did let me sing a tom petty song, which people seemed to enjoy (they were all drunk) at the party.

Coolest thing ever...


Look at this thing. seriously, look at it! it's the coolest thing ever. why? allow me to use 'bullet points' to summarize my opinion on this. 'bullet points' will not hurt you:

• this thing is a keychain
• it's also in the shape of a bat
• it has a built-in bottle opener
• it glows in the dark!!!!

let me know if you agree, and if you have anything to add, try using 'bullet points' to summarize your thoughts. i'm so tired...

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

A Japanese Dream...


'S's show is tomorrow! make sure you come out and support her! i made this image in photoshop today. I should be getting my passport soon, but i may not be heading to the UK until sometime after the holidays. here's a brief rundown of what's been going on, ambiguous as it may be:

• Beastmen
• Power through Change
• Travel
• Show

confused? good. Aeon Flux (the complete set) is coming out on DVD in a couple of weeks. i don't want to wait until xmas, it's already been over 10 years since i've first seen the shorts on MTV's Liquid Television. the movie should pale in comparison to what that series was. if i can pick up the set, be prepared for some kind of viewing party at our place.

Thursday, November 03, 2005

The Horror...



i'm a bit backed up on all the photos i owe you. the costume party, the hillbilly tournament, and tomorrow night's open-mic performance. bear with me.

anyways, i'm thinking of throwing a party in the same warehouse space as the party, and i'd need to get ahold of their media projector. it's a great space and all we need is a theme. so begins the first poll of this blog: what kind of party would you like to attend?
• german expressionist film party?
• alternative post-modern UK rock party?
• marshmallow peep party?

give feedback now.

This Friday...

...at the Bistro, i'll be performing 2 songs for open-mic night. Local blues musician Eddie Dattell and i will be doing a song together, and i'll be doing a solo bit afterward. hope to see you all there! for those of you that missed the Billy Gibson trio, you missed out. they'll be playing again in a couple of weeks. 'S's show is a week away...

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

All that Jazz...


Tonight at the Bistro Aroma... Billy Gibson!!! i fully expect to see you all there as this is a rare treat to experience. the place WILL fill up, so get there before 6:00. Plus, there will be beer tasting! hope everyone can make it.