reminder to self

Stop getting crushes on beautiful, inaccessible, unreachable women. You're not 12 anymore.

Thanks,

The Management

what

http://www.walk-ins.com/

Are you a Walk-In? A crystal child?

Edit: mendel found this: http://www.houstonpress.com/issues/2002-12-19/news/feature_print.html

ow

Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan

Dschinghis Khan's 1979 Eurovision classic "Dschinghis Khan" is even better in Chinese. (MP3, 2.7M)

I could fly higher than an emo

Last night was a light rain, which meant the distinctive sound of oversized yuppytrucks spinning all four wheels on wet pavement as bro guys looked for the heart of Friday night. Today is one of those beautiful scrubbed post-rain Southern California days and I'm about to go and enjoy it. A. is supposed to have dinner with me before she goes to her séance (don't ask), and it's always nice to see her.

I was making a mental list of things that always come up in conversations with my group of friends. So far I have:

1. Drugs & alcohol
   
2. Bad art
   
3. Talking shit on other characters from the patio
   
4. The same 50 stories
   
5. The follies of the rich
   
6. Gadgets & science
   
7. Peoples' shitty jobs

We should probably cut out #1, #3, and #4 but hey that's us. I've always had a group of friends like this, starting when I was 13 or so, so it's a comfort zone for me to have smart, bitter, self-justifying, and somewhat blocked people around. People like me.

When I was a kid, a lot of us in the house played piano. I played classical, my brother played that and a lot of ragtime, and my dad sometimes played jazz. To this day I have a nostalgic reflex response to stuff like solo Monk, and anything Scott Joplin. I think the Bach Toccata & Fugue in D Minor has more of a PTSD reflex for me, since it was my final huge performance piece before I went to college and quit playing, and it was a huge public disaster. Oddly, Mozart's "Jupiter" symphony is a lovely memory for me even though it represents a huge musical failure. When I was 12 or so I tried for a while to learn violin, and was in a youth Symphony for one season. I was a terrible, horrible, no good second violinist and it was emotionally bruising for me. I finally quit. However, I remember the amazing high of playing in in an orchestra, being INSIDE the instrument, and that symphony was our big piece.

And now, a vegetarian corn dog for me.

this was a stress management thing for him

Blake juror promoting six-song recording

LOS ANGELES - A juror who helped acquit actor Robert Blake of killing his wife is promoting a six-song recording he produced during Blake's trial.

Roberto Emerick, 30, publicized his album, "Judgment Day," during an appearance on CNN's "Larry King Live" soon after the acquittal. Emerick said he has received hate mail from critics who accuse him of making money off Bonny Lee Bakley's death.

"This was a stress management thing for me. This is how I was able to cope with the pressures of being a juror and not having anyone to tell about it," he said Friday.

Emerick said he and his rock band, Mission in the Hills, recorded songs before he was summoned for jury duty. As the trial wore on, he realized he needed an outlet to express his feelings. Emerick said he rewrote and recorded new songs that focused on the trial.

The album's title track looks at what Blake might have been thinking as he waited for jurors to reach their verdict.

Under state law, Emerick cannot receive more than $50 from the venture until at least 90 days after the trial. He plans to put the album on sale June 14 and is meanwhile offering free downloads from his band's Web site.

"Show me all this money that I'm supposedly making," he said.