A month or so back I had the privilege to be involved in one of my favorite bands videos. Nico Vega invited me to be an extra for their song Beast. Having drum experience led them to place me up front on the barrels. I went through 3 sets of sticks and had a mild blister or two but it was well worth it. The finished product came out great. I'm very proud to have been involved. It's a great song, and they are a great band. I've seen them play live around 10 times in the last few years. They put their heart and soul into each and every song they play, thus they are one of the most intense live acts I've ever seen. It's what keeps me coming back for more time and time again. If you ever have a chance to see them live, don't miss it.
Here is the finished video...enjoy.
http://vevo.ly/Tt4AHd
Friday, February 8, 2013
Monday, January 28, 2013
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Up Down
Turn it up,
blue sky,
brown ground,
there is no one here...no one around,
only the wind tries to make a sound,
shadows grow,
as the day gets old,
golden orange burns,
down down down.
blue sky,
brown ground,
there is no one here...no one around,
only the wind tries to make a sound,
shadows grow,
as the day gets old,
golden orange burns,
down down down.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Ladybug sightings
Had a day to myself last Wednesday (March 30th) and decided to head down to the beach and enjoy the warm weather and sunny skies. During my reflective walk down the south side of Seal Beach I noticed something strange. First off the winter sand mound that helps to protect the downtown homes had been leveled, officially signaling the end of winter. The next and much more exciting discovery I found as I dodged the crashing surf, were all the Ladybugs riding the shore break and on the beach. This find made my day, though I was puzzled by why all these ladybugs where here. After doing a little research apparently since it's spring time and there were warm conditions, the ladybugs were hatching. Wind conditions also may of had something to do with it, when the local Santa Ana winds blow out towards the ocean the ladybugs go with the flow. However they got there, good for them, getting some beach time in before hitting up the gardens! FUN FACT: LB's live 1-2 years.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Yup
So yes, I'm still alive. Though my bank account is almost on life support. The joys of Commission. Good times.
So yeah, quick update on things. My heart goes out to those in Japan who lost their lives and who are struggling though the aftermath. It was heartbreaking to watch the tsunami on live TV, just a surreal feeling. Very similar to when I was watching the morning news on 9/11/01, and saw the second plane hit. I just felt numb, and in disbelief as to what I had just witnessed. I'm keeping an eye open for a chance to go over to Japan and help out, we'll see how that turns out.
What else...a late season rain is supposed to hit us this weekend. I love the rain, and hate to see winter go. So I'll be soaking up this last gift from above, splash in a few puddles, and let my units yell at me for not having a coat on when it's only 60 outside.
So yeah, quick update on things. My heart goes out to those in Japan who lost their lives and who are struggling though the aftermath. It was heartbreaking to watch the tsunami on live TV, just a surreal feeling. Very similar to when I was watching the morning news on 9/11/01, and saw the second plane hit. I just felt numb, and in disbelief as to what I had just witnessed. I'm keeping an eye open for a chance to go over to Japan and help out, we'll see how that turns out.
What else...a late season rain is supposed to hit us this weekend. I love the rain, and hate to see winter go. So I'll be soaking up this last gift from above, splash in a few puddles, and let my units yell at me for not having a coat on when it's only 60 outside.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Return of F N M
Flashback to around a year ago...One of my favorite and influential(to me) bands had reunited. News that Faith No More had regrouped and would be playing festivals in Europe had me wanting to travel for a specific reason...to please my ears. Sadly travel was not in the budget and with the only dates scheduled far far away, I felt I was missing something grand. FF to two months ago. FNM had added a second date in Los Angeles. I was beside myself, and got tickets as they went on sale for the Hollywood Palladium. Reviews of their shows I'd read were very positive. Last Wednesday I got to hear for myself...I was not disappointed. The band took the stage as if they had never left. An hour and a half of solid sound rang the crowd into a frenzy, allowing me and my amigo to be just 3 deep from center stage and Mike Patton and friends. Not since 311 at the Bren Center had I been squeezed and crushed so much, but it was soo worth it. Mikes vocals were spot on and Bordin's drum beats along with his trademark dreads took me back when rock still rocked. Song after song, I could have fought the crowd for another 3 hours but before I knew it the night was over. Their final North American show of the reunion tour was over. I feel I need to revisit each of their records again to further appreciate what they have given the world. I would love to experience them again. I took a few pics with my crap camera phone (see below). For some quality pics of the action check out LA weekly's photos of our Dec 1st show. http://www.laweekly.com/slideshow/faith-no-more-the-palladium-31976265/
Monday, November 8, 2010
Music
After a long blog layoff...here we go.
Music is one of the best parts of life in my opinion. Linked to life even if you don't quite realize it. For example: Last song of H.S. prom: Black by Pearl Jam; and I could go on listing extensivly. So needless to say, I enjoy most types of music and love going to see live shows. The first recent show I checked out was an old high school friend actually. Playing under the name N.Sputnik http://music.nsputnik.com/ this was the second time I'd experienced N.Sputnik's smooth trippy sounds. The bleeps churps and tones blend into a sensation that likely could not be perfectly replicated twice, which makes each time new...different, amazing.
N.Sputnik will likely be playing more shows in the LA/OC area soon. Catch his experimental grooves if ambient is your style.
Part 2 of this post is music/LA lifestyle based.
A few weeks back I was eager to get my dance on, and not just at the local club, I wanted to see Paul Oakenfold! I'd grown up on his stuff, though in recent years my tastes had taken me away from the big DJ sounds. Well, I'm glad to be back. After standing in line over an hour outside the Music box in Hollywood, I was in. Last time I'd gone to a late night/after hours music event was when I was on Mykonos in Greece. I had a blast dancing till dawn, and was eager to see how things would go in Los Angeles. I was treated to the bass heavy beats of DJ Chuckie till about 1:45am. The Chuckster was a crowd favorite and seemed to feed off the crowd, everybody was having a nice time. It was prior to his set ending that I gave up my ride home, so that I could actually stay finish listening to Chuckie and finally see Oakenfold. This ment I would be hitting the streets of H.Wood at bout 4:15am to try and get home to north Orange County. But I had tons more dancing to do before that happened. Oakenfold took to the stage and did not disapoint. His lighter style is more to my liking and as the morning grew later the crowd thinned a bit. Better viewing for me, and more dance space so I was not complaining.
As Oakenfold faded out the last song, I felt great, content with a sweet show. As I walked out the door that slowly changed.
The options I had for getting home at 4:20am in LA are very limited. One of the things I really dislike about this area. Amazingly the Red Line metro's first train started at 4:50am at a nearby station. This was good news, even if it was a half hour wait for the train. The first train was amazingly populated with a few late nighters as well as people going to/from work. Downtown I make the switch to the Blue Line and head toward Long Beach. It was at this point I did not know what my next move would be. From Wardlow station, could I get a cab to get me home for the $20 I had left in my wallet? Because I used to ride the Blue Line when I worked downtown, I seemed to remember a bus that went to Seal Beach, but at 5:45 in the morning? The bus service started at 6 but took me to downtown SB, close but still aways away from my pad. I attempted calling 2 cab companies but niether would service where I was. It was at this point I decided to let public transport control my desteny. It was near 6 now and I did not have change for the bus. Purchasing Skittles at a service station I now had some smaller bills as I waited across the street for a bus, that hopefully would show up soon.
Thankfully it did, around 6:10am. This first bus had one other rider aside from myself. Still under cover of darkness the bus snaked through LB and eventually ended up on Main St. SB. Close but...still far. A short walk over to SB blvd. I was unsure when exactly the next bus would be coming by, so I walked some more. Up the hill to the main base enterance. Another bus! Closer still but still a good ways away. I ride up the blvd to Katella and get off. I again need change since OCTA does not offer transfers. Finding out when the bus I need down Katella will not be by for a half hour. It's 7:25am and I don't feel like waiting around for that long, so I walk on. Not a bad trek but I'm ready for some sleep at this point. A block or so from home I see the bus cruise by, and I'm surprisingly fine with that. A great evening over all, just took a little longer to hit my pillow than I had hoped. Good times!
Music is one of the best parts of life in my opinion. Linked to life even if you don't quite realize it. For example: Last song of H.S. prom: Black by Pearl Jam; and I could go on listing extensivly. So needless to say, I enjoy most types of music and love going to see live shows. The first recent show I checked out was an old high school friend actually. Playing under the name N.Sputnik http://music.nsputnik.com/ this was the second time I'd experienced N.Sputnik's smooth trippy sounds. The bleeps churps and tones blend into a sensation that likely could not be perfectly replicated twice, which makes each time new...different, amazing.
N.Sputnik will likely be playing more shows in the LA/OC area soon. Catch his experimental grooves if ambient is your style.
Part 2 of this post is music/LA lifestyle based.
A few weeks back I was eager to get my dance on, and not just at the local club, I wanted to see Paul Oakenfold! I'd grown up on his stuff, though in recent years my tastes had taken me away from the big DJ sounds. Well, I'm glad to be back. After standing in line over an hour outside the Music box in Hollywood, I was in. Last time I'd gone to a late night/after hours music event was when I was on Mykonos in Greece. I had a blast dancing till dawn, and was eager to see how things would go in Los Angeles. I was treated to the bass heavy beats of DJ Chuckie till about 1:45am. The Chuckster was a crowd favorite and seemed to feed off the crowd, everybody was having a nice time. It was prior to his set ending that I gave up my ride home, so that I could actually stay finish listening to Chuckie and finally see Oakenfold. This ment I would be hitting the streets of H.Wood at bout 4:15am to try and get home to north Orange County. But I had tons more dancing to do before that happened. Oakenfold took to the stage and did not disapoint. His lighter style is more to my liking and as the morning grew later the crowd thinned a bit. Better viewing for me, and more dance space so I was not complaining.
As Oakenfold faded out the last song, I felt great, content with a sweet show. As I walked out the door that slowly changed.
The options I had for getting home at 4:20am in LA are very limited. One of the things I really dislike about this area. Amazingly the Red Line metro's first train started at 4:50am at a nearby station. This was good news, even if it was a half hour wait for the train. The first train was amazingly populated with a few late nighters as well as people going to/from work. Downtown I make the switch to the Blue Line and head toward Long Beach. It was at this point I did not know what my next move would be. From Wardlow station, could I get a cab to get me home for the $20 I had left in my wallet? Because I used to ride the Blue Line when I worked downtown, I seemed to remember a bus that went to Seal Beach, but at 5:45 in the morning? The bus service started at 6 but took me to downtown SB, close but still aways away from my pad. I attempted calling 2 cab companies but niether would service where I was. It was at this point I decided to let public transport control my desteny. It was near 6 now and I did not have change for the bus. Purchasing Skittles at a service station I now had some smaller bills as I waited across the street for a bus, that hopefully would show up soon.
Thankfully it did, around 6:10am. This first bus had one other rider aside from myself. Still under cover of darkness the bus snaked through LB and eventually ended up on Main St. SB. Close but...still far. A short walk over to SB blvd. I was unsure when exactly the next bus would be coming by, so I walked some more. Up the hill to the main base enterance. Another bus! Closer still but still a good ways away. I ride up the blvd to Katella and get off. I again need change since OCTA does not offer transfers. Finding out when the bus I need down Katella will not be by for a half hour. It's 7:25am and I don't feel like waiting around for that long, so I walk on. Not a bad trek but I'm ready for some sleep at this point. A block or so from home I see the bus cruise by, and I'm surprisingly fine with that. A great evening over all, just took a little longer to hit my pillow than I had hoped. Good times!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
