watching and waiting...

my dumb family was supposed to be here to pick me up to go to the city to eat at carmine's and watch a chorus line ONE HOUR AGO. i am currently sitting here like a jackass wearing a fluffy hat and scarf with gloves in my lap. bullshitting around on myspace and blogger and just getting annoyed and hungry. seriously. where are they? granted we have time but i'm still hungry and bored. grrr. haah. anyway.

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Echo Station Year in Review

Let me take you back in time to the early days of echo station. Picture this: Early February, 2001. Our third gig ever was at a place called The Odyssey in Ithaca, NY. We were opening for our pals in the now defunct hip hop/rock band y5o. The web site for the Odyssey showed a large stage, with professional PA and a large floor that seemed like it could accommodate about 500 people. With the chance to play such a nice room, mixed in with this being our first road show in front of a college crowd, we were quiet excited. We made the 4 hour trek to Ithaca and upon arriving found out that we were not playing in that nice room ... we were playing in a small corner of the lounge portion of the club. The "stage" was barely big enough to hold the drums. The room itself had a bar in the back and a bunch of couches where college students were lounging, sipping cocktails, reading and making small talk. Needless to say we were infuriated. We let the anger fester for a bit, got drunk and proceeded to play one of the loudest, craziest, most rocking shows. That quiet room quickly turned into a raving pack of wildly dancing college students. That night, we were rock and roll in its purest form. We destroyed that place. Even though I'm sure we were no where near as tight musically as we are now, our intensity that night more then made up for anything we might have lacked musically.

Moral of the story, we played with supernatural intensity when we were pissed off. It made for a great show.

Fast forward to December 23rd, 2006, echo station's official "Let's Go Steady, Debbie EP" release party at Piano's. We were all quite pumped up just like we had been 5 years earlier. We had played all over NYC, upstate NY and CT but with the exception of that Ithaca show, we had never played angry. We have had plenty of awesome shows, full of true rock and roll aggression, but nothing like that night at the Odyssey. That was all about to change.....

We all got to Piano's early, unloaded, had a few cocktails and watched Love Panther (who were really fucking awesome) and Beat Radio do their thing. After Beat Radio started breaking down their set, we began loading ours. That's when I heard Joe say .... "Where the fuck is Steve's pedal board?" I thought he was making a joke. At the CMJ show, we had lost Steve's pedal bored and almost had a mental breakdown before we played. About 40 minutes before that show, we realized that it had to be in the limo. Our driver went and double checked and found it. He got it back to us about 15 minutes before the show. Just in time to save the day. There was no limo driver this time, and Joe was making no joke. Shortly after Joe said that, I saw Steve with the look that I know all to well ... "Pissed Off Steve look." Someone had walked off with his pedal board.

For non-musicians, a guitar players sound is what distinguishes him from every other player. Effects pedals (such as distortion, reverb, delay, etc) are an important part of any bands sound and are often important to the makeup of a song. Steve was now without "his" sound. Even though Steve had "the look," he stayed remarkably calm. Not only had he lost his sound, but he also had lost close to a $1000.00 in gear. Most people would throw a shit fit and walk out of a gig. Steve, along with the 3 of us who felt sorry for our brother and anger towards the cocksmoking fuck who stole his gear, regrouped, let the anger fester and turned it into something else. Love Panther was kind enough to let Steve borrow a distortion pedal. We then plugged in and did what we did in Ithaca 5 years earlier ... We played an angry, loud, aggressive and totally fucking awesome show. This show had more energy then Ithaca and since we were a band 5 years older, we were much, MUCH tighter.

It was one of, if not our best show ever. The room was packed and the crowd was way into the show. We played so hard and so intense that I nearly collapsed from exhaustion after our encore. The encore came as a surprise to everyone, including us. We played "Breed" by Nirvana. It was only our 2nd time ever playing it, the first being one day earlier in rehearsal. I think everyone was blown away. Overall, with the exception of the pedal board being stolen, the night was a great success from every standpoint. We handed out allot of EP's, gave away free copies of Marc Spitz's "Too Much Too Late," Free t-shirts and played a killer show. We can not thank Jason Gordon from ProductshopNYC and Jasper from Piano's enough for putting that show together. You guys fucking rule. We also have to thank Marc Spitz who has been so supportive and went out of his way to help in any way he could.

So 2006 has ended on a very big positive note for echo station. Can't say it started out that way. Let's have a look at echo station's year in review:

January 2006: e/s plays what is highly touted as their "last" show at Piano's in NYC. Things in the band have gotten stale and most of the excitement and drive that had fueled the band for so long seems all but gone.

February 2006: Joe Bag's e-mails everyone out of the blue and says he has contacted Nikki at Don Hills about booking a show. Nikki offers up a Friday at a prime time slot.

March 2006: e/s plays Don Hills. Musically, it is a great show. The band feels better about themselves because it is abundantly clear that the drive and love to play is still there. Nikki from Don Hills makes the night even better by offering e/s a slot for their FHM/Southern Comfort show in May. Free So Co and hot chicks on the cover of magazines... fuck yeah we'll play!

April 2006: Steve, being the cultural connoisseur he is, tells us about an awesome book he's reading called "Too Much Too Late." He says there is a contest based on the book. This contest will be judged by the author, several writers from Spin, Ultragrrl and James Iha (formally of Smashing Pumpkins ... one of our all time favorite bands). Winner gets 1000 promotional copies of the CD and a chance to play CMJ. Steve writes a song based on the fictional one from the book. This song is called "Let's Go Steady, Debbie." The song gets us excited immediately just like Claire and Heartbreaker did when they were first brought to the table.

May 2006: e/s plays Don Hill's FHM/Southern Comfort show. We play Let's Go Steady, Debbie live for the first time. The crowd instantly loves it further cementing what we already know ... the song could be our breakout hit. During Memorial Day weekend, we record the song with Josh Carrerio. The recording sounds awesome and we become hopeful that we will win this contest. May is not all good news. Joe informs the band that he will be moving away in July for at least a year, returning only to visit once in awhile and play CMJ.

June 2006: We submit the CD and our press kit to the contest. Several weeks later we get the call ... We had won convincingly. e/s is officially back from the dead.

July 2006: We begin marking time as we await further info on the contest. With CMJ 4 months away, we know we must spend as much time as possible preparing. We play our last show with Joe until CMJ at a local place in Elmsford. To celebrate, we break out old classic e/s songs like Leia, Sunday Morning and Vietnam as well as some fun covers. It is not a great show musically as the sadness and resentment towards Joe leaving us sets in. Joe leaves several days later.

August 2006: Our little article in The Westmore News almost kills Beadlepalooza. The Beadles', being the mad genius's they are pull together last minute and reschedule at a new date and location. The turnout is not the same and neither are we. We are lackluster at best, but still have a good time. We miss Joe and things just aren't the same without him.

September 2006: Quiet month. Details on the show and the general announcement of us winning are made.

October 2006: Joe comes home early and surprises Jen Eye at her 30th birthday bash. e/s is reunited after not being together for 4 months. A two week grueling rehearsal schedule starts as we prepare for CMJ. Things feel like they have never changed. From the first note at the first rehearsal we are as tight as ever. e/s has become a machine by now, despite the roller coaster ride of the year.

November 2006: We play ProductshopNYC's CMJ after party. We are the first band kicking off the show. Even though the turnout at such an early time is not good, we blow those who are there away. Jason Gordon of ProductshopNYC loves the show and Marc Spitz reciprocates, telling us that "This is not it for you guys." Our CD is not ready for that night like it was supposed to be, but otherwise the night was a huge success.

December 2006: We receive our CD's and decide that we should have an EP release party at our favorite NYC club, Piano's. Jasper hooks up the prime time slot and Jason Gordon of Productshop along with Jasper and Marc Spits helps put the show together and promote it. During the month Andy mails out press kits to two city venues that we have been dying to play since day 1 ... Mercury Lounge and The Knitting Factory. Knitting Factory e-mails and express's interest. As e/s tries to arrange a gig there for February 2007, we play the EP release party on December 23rd. The EP release is a great success. Piano's is packed and the EP is received well. The members of e/s leave NYC that night for the last time in 2006, knowing that 2007 is looking brighter then ever. The members return home to celebrate the holidays with their families. Joe leaves again a few days later with a heavy heart knowing his place is here with his brothers. We are sad to see him leave again but know he'll be back. He knows as we do ... 2006 was a glimpse into the future of this band. We were meant to do this, at least for awhile and hope to God that he allows us to see it all the way through.

Exciting yes? It was a great year. One that I will remember always. We started off drifting apart and now I feel closer to these 3 other guys then I ever have. I have one blood related sister, but when people ask, I tell them that I have 3 younger brothers as well. I love them as I do my own sister. The holidays are a time to be thankful. The members of e/s are thankful for many reasons. We have loving families, wives/Fiancé, good health, homes. We also have the fortune of being on this great ride called echo station together.

Happy Holidays to all and have a happy and healthy new year. We'll see you all in 2007. We can not fucking wait!

-Mike

Best and Worst of 2006

according to Lady Jaded. mostly movies since i really didn't love any music this year.

Movies that I expected to be good that actually sucked a lot:
Charlotte’s Web
Pirate’s of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Curse (#1 grossing movie of 2006 w/$423.271mil)
Scary Movie 4
Nacho Libre
The OMEN
Movies that I thought would be okay but were actually fucking hilarious:
Talladega Nights
Accepted
Grandma’s Boy
Happy Feet
Beer Fest
Really the only new releases of 2006 that I listened to and Enjoyed:
Wired All Wrong- Break out the Battle Tapes
Echo Station- Let's Go Steady, Debbie! (EP)
Movies that were worth the Hype:
The Davinci Code
Superman Returns
(I only went cuz we were in L.A. and it was Graumann's Chinese Theater and it was the day before Amanda’s wedding…and I actually enjoyed it).
Jackass Number 2
(Right now jackass 2 is number 28 on the highest grossing films of the year. That is sick)
Borat
Clerks2
Beer Fest
OOPS I FELL ASLEEP:
King Kong
X-Men: The Last Stand
Movies that I really wanted to see but alas, I didn’t:
Saw III
Final Destination 3
Tenacious D
Running With Scissors
The Best and most realistic and sick horror movies:
Hostel
Wolfcreek
See No Evil

The movies that I most anticipated in 2006 (and boy was I relieved that I liked them):
Little Miss Sunshine
A Scanner Darkly

it's been a long while...

this past week or so has been just great but it certainly has flown by...the party for my father's 50th birthday which i have been planning for 3 months is OVER and done with, and now the sadness of the end of the holiday season is setting in. thank the lord almighty baby jesus that we're going to disney in january or i don't know WHAT i'd do.
last night was beautiful. this week has been so nice, not working and all, hanging out with my sisters, my daughter, i do NOT want to go back to suckfest work on tuesday.
oh well.
happy new year!

click the stupid slide show to shut it up...

i jack. the PUMPKIN KING...

a christmassy slideshow of love...

gone

i'm ass backwards!

i just realized that i never posted about the XXX-Mas Party Fiesta Night of Excellent Good Times Echo Station CD Release Party...(slideshow has been deleted due to the annoyance of the dumbfucking song.)
seriously, fucking amazing.
love panther, unbelievably talented guys. there was a lot of getting gay with god.
echo station, extremely angry when they got on stage. and they kicked almighty godforsaken ass. it was madness. when they played "breed" at the end, i'm pretty sure therese and i were warped back to 10th grade. in a really good way.

merry christmas charlie manson!

Hope everyone had as amazing a Christmas as we did! The gifts came in trunkloads (I kid you not) and were so very generous...we have such an insane family! From diamond necklaces to laptops to Disney Dollars to tickets to see A CHORUS LINE!!! to massage/facial/mani/pedi gift certificates...unreal. And that is not even tipping the iceburg of what Juliet got! It was the perfect couple of days, and I don't even want to see my living room right now...but hope you all had a cozy, wonderful couple of days too :)

enjoying the fun that you have so diligently earned...

hurray! i am on vacation. albeit a very short, teeny one (til disney, that's fine!) last night was a very satisfying end to a very long, sucky week. we went to a holiday/housewarming party at trisha lynn's gorgeous new apartment, had a tequila shot, drank some exceptionally sweet sangrias and came home. (then fought w/andy about how much i HATE reggae. and it was a big fight.)last night i saw and hung out with one of my best friends from high school who i haven't seen in like 10 years and it was wonderful! it was like it was just yesterday that we were drinking a bottle of goldschlaager in the park ave. playground, breaking his knee and getting my ass grounded for a year. and the best news is that tonight is the real fun! so many people are coming to nyc to see e/s and partay!

she sells heart...she sells meat...

oh manashey, i was just on ProductShopNYC and lo and behold he has a very wonderful video from youtube of brett anderson (suede, former love of my live) singing some songs at home or whatever to get us all excited about his upcoming album. well it worked for me cuz i just freaking LOVE brett anderson. seriously. do you remember him?


and then, just under the brett anderson thing, is this:


oh my goodness! it makes me want to go dress up with some crazyass false eyelashes and dance in a cage with a sign on me that says "don't feed the drug child." i fucking LOVE it!!!!
and then, just cuz i'm obsessed easily (christina, i hope you can view this...at home?):

and even fucking better:

dude, i spent countless sleepless nights watching mtv trying to catch a glipse of these vids. which i think i saw once each and just fell.
i adored suede. and then they became "london" suede, and i just got confused and really had no time to figure it all out.
well, this all has made me very happy. even though andy is watching that sad and godforsaken movie behind me, where robin williams is quite young but an old man and dies. TURN IT OFF!!!

it's begining to (feel) a lot like XXX-mas...

i am just plumb tuckered out. i have to say that in having a really challenging week, i am going to totally enjoy the relief tomorrow brings me. i cannot wait to have some watermelon martinis and check out t's new place. and then it's the show! hurray. i cannot wait. and then, santa comes! ho, ho, ho!

let me be self-indulgent.

in the path of our friend jason @ productshopnyc, lady jaded wants to come up with her own BESTS of 2006 LIST.

i decided this just now while in the shower cuz i'm absolutely positively 100% addicted to the song "la vie bohem" from rent which i saw for the first time this year (and have seen 3 times in the theater and countless times on the t.v. and i don't think you'd believe how many times i've listened to the cd. today alone. seriously). i mean, this song has changed my life in a way a song hasn't done in so long. i cannot remember listening to a song so obsessively since...honestly since blur's "boys and girls." in 10th fucking grade. so anyway, keep your eyes out for that list of me telling you what i love (cuz seriously i haven't even heard of the songs on most of the Best o' 2006 Lists that are out). (not cuz i suck, but cuz i just like MY stuff). (am i old and irrational?)

but for now, just bask in the beauty that is "la vie bohem:"


Dearly beloved we gather here to say our goodbyes
Dies irae dies illa
Kyrie eleison
Yitgadal v' yitkadash, etc.
Here she lies

No one knew her worth

The late great daughter of mother earth

On this night when we celebrate the birth

In that little town of Bethlehem

We raise our glass- you bet your ass to-

La vie Boheme

To days of inspiration

Playing hookie, making something out of nothing

The need to express

To communicate,

To going against the grain,

Going insane

Going mad

To loving tension, no pension

To more than one dimension,

To starving for attention,

Hating convention, hating pretension

Not to mention of course,

Hating dear old mom and dad

To riding your bike,

Midday past the three- piece suits

To fruits to no absolutes

To Absolute- to choice

To the Village Voice

To any passing fad

To being an us-for once-, instead of a them -

La vie Boheme

To hand-crafted beers made in local breweries

To yoga, to yogurt, to rice and beans and cheese

To leather, to dildos, to curry vindaloo

To huevos rancheros and Maya Angelou

Emotion, devotion, to causing a commotion

Creation, vacation

Mucho masturbation

Compassion, to fashion, to passion when it's new

To Sontag
To Sondheim

To anything taboo

Ginsberg, Dylan, Cunningham and Cage

Lenny Bruce


Langston Hughes

To the stage

To Uta

To Buddha

Pablo Neruda, too

Why Dorothy and Toto went over the rainbow

To blow off Auntie Em

La vie Boheme

Bisexuals, trisexuals, homo sapiens,

Carcinogens, hallucinogens, men, Pee Wee Herman

German wine, turpentine, Gertrude Stein

Antonioni, Bertolucci, Kurosawa

Carmina Burana

To apathy, to entropy, to empathy, ecstasy

Vaclav Havel - The Sex Pistols, 8BC,

To no shame - never playing the Fame Game

To marijuana

To sodomy,

It's between God and me

To S & M

La vie Boheme

To Dance
No Way To Make A Living,massochisms,
Pain, Perfection,
Muscle Spasm, Chiropractors, Short-
Careers, Eating Disorders
Film
Adventure, Tedium, No Family, Boring
Locations,
Dark Rooms, Perfect Faces, Egos,
Money, Hollywood And Sleaze
Music
Food Of Love, Emotion, Mathematics,
Isolation,
Rhythm, power, feeling, Harmony,
And Heavy Competition
Anarchy
Revolution, Justice, Screaming For
Solutions,
Forcing Changes, Risk, And Danger
Making Noise And Making Pleas
To Faggots, Lezzies, Dykes, Cross
Dressers Too
To Me

To Me

To Me

To You, And You And You, You And You
To People living With, Living With,
Living With
Not Dying From Disease

Let He Among Us Without Sin
Be The First To Condemn

La Vie Boheme
La Vie Boheme
La Vie Boheme

Anyone Out Of The
Mainstream
Is Anyone In The
Mainstream?
Anyone Alive - With A
Sex Drive
Tear Down The Wall
Aren't We All
The Opposite Of War
Isn't Peace...
It's Creation

VIVA LA VIE BOHEM!

...make my wish come true...

oh hi there.
what a long and dreaful day.
every day i say this don't i?
however, i must admit that now that tuesday is over, my week will not be so godforsaken. today i had a long and late one, all the way out in west harrison which is a sucky drive for me. cuz lemme tell you that i fucking HATE white plains and i would be fine never going there again. but i have to go there on thursday for work and then to make and exchange and get a secret sneaky stocking gift for old andy.
did i ever mention on this here blog that i really broke my foot on saturday? a drawer fell on it, corner first, and i saw birds and stars and other such cartooney shits. i haven't been able to walk properly for days, and have only been able to wear my uggs...today, i assure you the fucking thing is GREEN. so abnormal. so dreadful.
tomorrow is really the shittiest day of the year, but once it's over i swear i'll feel such a weight off my chest. or shoulders?
1) meet with the guy from p.c. if he signs my OT-11, that means i'm a certified teacher as of 2/1/07. if he does not, that means i have another 6 weeks of unpaid suckage to endure.
2) juliet my angel daughter is getting evaluated. what does this mean? (i know that most of my bffs are in the field, so i usually forget to explain this). her bitchy teacher told me one day (quite flippantly and rudely and in front of PARENTS) that she should be evaluated. (she is aggressive in class, bored, fidgity, pushy, she has hit and pushed and kicked classmates). so altho i think on one hand that she may just be bored out of her skull with other 2 year old babies (i know i sound like an italian or jewish mother here, cuz i am, but seriously she's a fucking genius. her doctor was SHOCKED at her abilities) i do see a lot of discrepencies, like she cannot walk up and down stairs, she is clumbsy, she has to throw things (like, food. or her socks out of her crib. and freaks out if she cannot)and she walks into walls a lot. so i'm thinking that perhaps she is being pushy/hitty/kicky cuz she is seeking some sort of sensory input. and so an occupational therapist is coming to check her out. and it is making me feel a lot worse than i had originally thought it would. so after that is over, i'm sure i'll feel a lot better. or maybe worse. but we'll see.

i plan on doing some cookie baking with young jules tomorrow which should be super fun. and by baking i mean putting premade cookies on a sheet. cuz i do not bake. but that is not totally true. cuz i will attempt these weight watcher cookies and hope they are delish.

man a shay...there are only 5 days left til Christmas!!!! or Christmas EVE. whatever. oh and only 4!! days left til the Echo Station CD release FIESTA of CHEER.
(do you know that when they say "have a holly jolly christmas have a cup of cheer" they mean alchohol!!!

nightmare before christmas

so hilarious. i went to my in-laws for dinner tonight, and my father in law had a little package waiting for him...he made me follow him into his room (i realize this has so far sounded quite perverse and i apologize)(because it was not) and in this package was a jack skellington doll that he had ordered for juliet. apparently trisha lynn had made him get it for her due to her obsession with the ol' pumpkin king. but my in laws thought quite frankly that trisha had lost her mind cuz WHY WOULD THEIR YOUNG AND INNOCENT 2 YEAR OLD GRANDDAUGHTER WANT THIS SCARY DUMB THING? well, she showed them! my father in law takes her into the computer room and pulls up a picture of ol' jack, and she just freaks out! "look poppy! it's jack!" and he's laughing because he really did not think she loved this crazy skeleton. but she's jumping about and so i put on the youtube videos, and she starts singing away...and my mother in law comes in and is just amazed...she's like, "i cannot believe she really likes this!" and oh, how she does. it was so funny. trisha has some good video of her singing it, i'm sure she'll put it up somewhere eventually and then i shall share it with you.

i had another long ass stressfull day...i seriously canNOT wait til friday night/saturday night because this week sucks so damn bad...i have a long, dreadful day at work tomorrow and thursday...wednesday i have a nice short work day, but then i have to meet with the superintendent of pc to see if i, you know, graduate and get certified (can you kill me now?) and then juliet has her ot eval. fantastic. and friday sucks too, but not as bad and then that night, i'm freeeeeeeeeeee and it's nearly christmas!!!

saturday night will be spectacular!!! i'm so excited about it...

was i bored today? surprisingly, yes.

regardless of the pile of boxes in my livingroom, i took the time to do this bullshit. cuz it was fun.

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echo station, fangoria chainsaw awards, etc.

so jason @ productshopnyc has put another nice reminder about saturday's cd release party on the blog. so awesome! go check it out...
and check out this cute flier he made up...






tonite we watched the fuse fangoria chainsaw awards for horror movies...it was a fantastic basis for an awards show, with such categories as best kill, bloodiest movie, etc. but there were so many things that made me so very angry. mostly, the godforsaken bands of this day and age, what with the fucking eyeliner and that fucking hairdo. you know the one i mean. the world would be a much better place without such awful sights and sounds of avenged sevenfold (cky toured with them? how did that happen? and when did fred durst get a new band?), 30 seconds to mars (nice fucking hairdo jared leto. p.s. nice fake bullshit image, kid. you've been around for like 15 years, and i've never seen you dress like such a fucking douche. seriously. if you were being true to the roots of who you were, i'd totally respect you even in i didn't agree with the shit you are putting out there. however, all of a sudden you are gothic or whatever the fuck it's called when you wear eyeliner and have strangely asymetrical hair. how long does it take for you to look so cool?), a.f.i. (no comment, seriously), and then there's the fact that they announced avril lavigne as a PUNK PRINCESS. oh, i'm sorry, since when is pop fucking top 40 z100 music PUNK? even back when she was all ball busting and wearing ties and shit, she was still POP. like, soft pop. and now she's married and all a girly girl and wearing red nailpolish. and only has love songs out. a PUNK princess? seriously.
however, devil's rejects won best movie. which was good. cuz as you know i love me some rob zombie.

everyday is exactly the same

i am so freaking exhausted every single day of my life. it sucks. and then, to top it all off, i come home and think i'm martha stuart (it's NOT a good thing). cooking delicious low fat weight watcher core meals from scratch. who has the time for that shit? oh, well, i am starving to death right now so i made the time. old andy boy is working til 7 anyway, so i'm actually done and waiting for him. i bought a thousand pre-made cookies to bake with juliet next week (cuz i do NOT bake. cook, yes; bake, heck no!) and i also (quite ambitiously) got the ingredients necessary for these holiday festivities-flavored weight watcher treats. mint truffles and almond cookie delight. i hope they come out delectable.

oh i forgot to mention that we watched taledega nights last night and it was soooooo fucking funny. i love will ferrel. ahhahaah.

plus, i'm very sorry that this message is riddled with incorrect spelling. i'm really quite exhausted. and starving.

k.d. lang and jake gyllenhal...

you must watch this horrifying display, and tell me if you see the similarities...

ECHO STATION CD RELEASE PARTY @ PIANO'S

As you all know, because I keep telling you (over and over and over), Echo Station is having a CD release party on Saturday December 23rd @ Piano's NYC. Piano's is one of the best spots to see E/S because they tear up the stage and end up filling the room to its capacity. I saw them there 2 years ago on my 26th birthday. I was 9 months pregnant, gargantuan, and hot as a tamale. I was at the waaaay back of the entire audience because I was too big to waddle my way to the front. Regardless, the show was amazing. I actually very nearly passed out. From excitement mostly, but I'm sure something had to do with being so massive. Since then, I've seen them a number of times at Piano's, and each time is better than the last. You can actually watch to one of their past shows at Piano's right here! After most shows at Piano's, we retire upstairs to chill and dance to 80s music and sometimes get kicked out of the bathroom for (not) having sex in them. And then throwing the tp roll into the toilet. And then Jenny Penny protesting, "They're not having sex...they're married!" Oh, the memories I have of that place. Don't you want to also have such funny memories (hazy tho they might end up being?) SO PLAN ON BEING THERE!!!

Product Shop NYC is doing a great job of promoting the show. They have put a nice little banner up on their main page to advertise...check it out!

E/S is playing with 2 other NY bands who kick ass as well...

Beat Radio is a lo-fi indie pop collective led by NY-based singer songwriter Brian Sendrowitz. From their first public performance at Sin-e in June 2005, Beat Radio has been embraced by indie rock enthusiasts as a music happening. Fans and reviewers have compared Beat Radio to such luminaries as Broken Social Scene, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Sparklehorse, and Luna. The current live show features Brian Sendrowitz on guitar and vocals, Phil Jimenez on guitar and keys, Jim Mansfield on drums, and Mike McCabe on bass. The band collides 60s folk influences with indie noise pop and electronic elements. Check out Beat Radio's debut LP, The Great Big Sea, currrently available for download at beatradio.org. Check out their MySpace Blog for the numerous quotes of love they've gotten from other bloggers, such as Yeti Don't Dance, Ear Farm, Underrated and my personal favorite, Music Glob.

Then there's Love Panther...doesn't the name alone make you want to pump your fists in the air? They were originally Bones Rock n Roll Band but alas, the name Bones was taken. They next played around as I Rollers, but as bassist Mike Margioni states: "That name is bad luck." I'm dying to know why...Okay, so after much deliberation, they are now playing the NYC area as Love Panther. Same band. New attitude. New drummer, new name. Margioni goes on to say, "We are influenced mainly by substance use and abuse. An ad for a drummer we put out read, 'drummer wanted. drinking and drugs ok.'Don't tell anyone but we aren't even really that cool." Listen to their songs on MySpace, and I can be sure that you'll disagree with that. More from Margioni: "I can tell you that we are embarrassed by the state of rock today. The bands representing rock n roll are full of crying little joy boys. We are just trying to put a little testosterone and adrenaline back into the music. I hope that people can appreciate that."
E/S and their fans can appreciate that, and can only imagine the adrenaline and testosterone that will be flying in the air of Piano's this XXX-mas eve eve night... Oh, and Margioni wraps it all up with: "Don't forget how good looking we tend to be as a band. Have you seen our new drummer? That guy is totally handsome." Go check out said drummer on their MySpace page...

So yes, it's really coming up fast...there are only 9 days left until the show! How awesome is that? Then after that, it's time to open presents and give presents and eat and drink and be merry and say ho, ho, ho. Unless you are Jewish, in which case you will have already been celebrating for days by the time we meet up at Piano's. Regardless, I truly hope to see you out there. As I've also beaten to death, you can meet up at our place and follow us down in a caravan of sorts (almost like the Oregon Trail without the wagons) but EARLY, like 6:30 pm sharp...and I want to give a shout out to my funnest boy EVER who will be there all the way from L.A. (yea, from HollywoodLand...if he can make it, so should you!)...hurray!!!

...for the great relief of having you to talk to...

YAY FOR ME!
i am officially done with school! i have my master's in science in early childhood education and student's with disabilities. whoo hoo. does it really matter? i don't feel like things have changed. i found a new school for juliet. and got a message from her old teacher. i send a kind of nasty letter to the director today, and now i'm wraught with guilt. however, i think that flippantly telling a parent in a crowded hallway that her 2 year old should be evaluated is a pretty fucked up offense. sigh. let's all hope and pray that this new school is good. i mean, it seems fantabulous. it's about 2x the $ of old school, but she's there for 3X as long, and they serve breakfast and lunch and 2 snacks. totally worth it.
i am writing a nice little piece about our friends LOVE PANTHER and BEAT RADIO who are of course playing Piano's w/Echo Station. however, i was up all night doing my portfolio so of course i didn't get a chance to finish. it will be here soon i promise. right this moment "you outta know" by alanis morisette is on. isn't that so old school?

the day the whole world went away...

so today is a big one in the life of yours truly. i leave my house in about 25 minutes, and work my magic with two kids. i'm done by 1:30 HOPEFULLY and then i jet off to CNR for la ultima tiempo. you don't comprehend? THE LAST FUCKING TIME! cuz i'm GRADUATING FROM GRAD SCHOOL HURRAY!!! after 2 years of busting my ballsack (which as you may realize i don't have which made it THAT MUCH harder)i'm OUTTA HEEEERE! like doug. so anyway, the superintendent of PoCho talked to one of my fave profs. (the one who helped me so much w/the shennanigans about juliet)who told him to sign the damn papers that i needed signed. so i'm done! february 1st i get my massive raise and start raking in the money. of COURSE that's not what it's about when you work with kids, but at the same time, when you have a kid at home that you're not with, that's really ALL it is about. $$$$$
then after that i go to check out a new school for juliet...which is right behind CNR. keep your fingers and toes crossed cuz i really, really need to find a wonderful place for her to go...
okay, time is doing that thing it does and i only have 15 minutes to get out the house...i'll write tonite to express my joy.

time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping...

seriously now, i feel like i'm going insane. i don't have time to do ANYTHING. i worked all weekend which was fucking stupid of me. saturday i did a make-up cuz i took off friday (a make-up that i forgot absolutely about and nearly slept through) and today i babysat and didn't get home til after 4. i've been working my balls off making my father's 50th birthday present which includes searching for photos and scanning them and then putting them in this photobook which will eventually be a 12x12 hardcover glossy paged gift of love. i spent 2 hours working on the book last night and the computer froze and i lost EVERYTHING.
juliet is no longer in school which makes life that much harder and makes me feel so guilty for working. i cry at each kid's house. i think, what the fuck am i doing with this child while my child needs me? i'm desperate to find her a new place to go, but when the hell do i do that? my last day of school is on tuesday, and this guy STILL hasn't signed the necessary papers for me to graduate. which means, of course, that despite the fact that i worked my ass off and have a 4.0gpa, i'm not graduating. i feel like crying about 99% of the time.
i got all our xmas shopping done, which rocks. but is something i enjoy. i just don't get why people have trouble and stress around the holidays. i mean, i'm stressing, but because of work and juliet and life in general. nothing about christmas. i feel that people generally suck and that is the problem. speaking of which, i was watching this show on hbo, thin, about these bulemic girls and i pretty much wanted to stab them. i really did. they were pretty much the worst. they were like, crying and saying, "i just want to be thin. let me die." OfuckingKay. go ahead asshole. anywho. i am going to see rent. for the 3rd time. in january. and andy is escorting me...i'm so excited. i am not prepared for work tomorrow. i have to get up and get me and juliet ready and get andy to the trainstation and juliet to elenor's and be in rye by 8. how am i going to do it?

chicken. head. lost.

i feel like that trite expression, which i hinted at in the subject line. seriously, i have about 34 things going on right at this moment, and yet i just felt the urgent desire to pop up on here and say 'allo.
here is what is new...out of easiness, i am pretty much copying my myspace blog regarding what's up:

ho, ho, ho! i am so happy today. i was like a kid at christmas today at the mall. i just love to spend money. it has to do with my manic bipolorness. it's not too funny, but it sure is enjoyable. until the bills come. then it is suckable. however, i did get the world's sparkliest pair of shoes for my dad's 50th birthday fiesta which is very close to new year's eve. fun times. yea, so today we went on our annual shopping expedition. it was a blast. until there was a semi-fight at the end. but alas, what is a family outing day sans tension?

okay, the real reason i'm writing is NOT to tell you about my fabulous shoes (or new red dress!) but to announce the news that you can now go to iTunes and download the Mr. Heartbreaker ep. isn't that so cool! click here to check it out!

while we're on the subject, remember that echo station is having a cd release party on saturday 12/23/06 at Piano's in NYC. you know, our favorite little dive. the place is going to be bursting with holiday cheer and friends who live near and far (including some of my favorites from boston and philly). marc spitz is sending us the FREE copies of "Too Much Too Late" any day now, and if you come, YOU GET A COPY ALONG WITH YOUR ECHO STATION CD. did you hear what i said??? i said FREE MOTHER FUCKER!!! sorry, again, i mentioned i'm slightly manic, right? oh, and we're getting the most fantastic t-shirt's made up too. so be prepared for a funass night.

did i mention that LOVE PANTHER is playing too? they fucking ROCK, and you DO NOT WANT TO MISS THEIR SHOW which is set for 8pm. second slot is a band called BEAT RADIO who are also pretty groovy. they seem like a really talented and enjoyable band, so check them out too, and be ready to rock out with them...

so regardless, these cool bands opening for e/s is why we're cutting the cocktail XXXmas party down to pretty much meeting @ my house and driving to the city.

okay. go see echo station on iTunes. have a great night. and have wonderful dreams of our fun night together coming up right soon...

oh and for the record

things have gotten even worse w/juliet and the school. but i don't have the energy to get into it.

HAPPY FEET

this movie is fantastic. i took juliet to see it today in IMAX and i was laughing so hard that tears were pouring down my cheeks.

i have nothing.

it's been so long since i've posted. and i really just cannot muster the energy right now. just to keep you in the know, i haven't slept since before thanksgiving. and life just loves to throw me curveballs. with spikes. i have nightly migraines. i'm hoping all this shit ends soon. but i finished xmas shopping. and most of my cards are out. ho, ho, ho!also, here is a cute picture of dico claus...

the most powerful man in america...

...is still Borat. i know i'm waaay late on this news, but alas, i must report on it! after what, a month? two months? the retarded marriage of kid rock and pammy a. is over...why? page six tells me:
The final straw was a bellicose blowup Rock threw at Universal Studio chief Ron Meyer's Beverly Hills house two weeks ago.

"Ron Meyer held a screening of 'Borat' at his house for a bunch of people, including Pam and Bob," says an Anderson pal. "It was the first time Bob had seen the movie, and, well, he didn't like it."

The hugely popular film shows Sasha Baron Cohen - in character as Borat Sagdiyev - falling in love with Anderson after seeing her in a "Baywatch" rerun, then driving across America in order to propose marriage to her.

Her friend tells Page Six, "Bob started screaming at Pam, saying she had humiliated herself and telling her, 'You're nothing but a whore! You're a slut! How could you do that movie?' - in front of everyone. It was very embarrassing.

"Pam thought he could have a sense of humor about the movie. She was in on the gag from the very beginning and loved doing the movie. And on the eve of what was supposed to be a very positive thing, he made it an awful night.

kid rock is such a freakin' douche. did you ever see "joe dirt?" he was such a scumbag in that movie. and i guess in real life.

humbug and shennanigans?

if i didn't supposedly LOVE christmas so much, today would have been one hell of a scroogefest. i spent the day decorating the casa, which looks mighty fine i might say, but now i'm exhausted.

all my gifts came. well, most of them, anyway. and they're wrapped, but now i'm broke.

after juliet woke from her nap, we decided to go meet and greet with jolly old st. nick. we trecked to p.c. to pick up becky then drove to white plains to discover that the dumbass galleria santa was arriving via reindeer TOMORROW and called the suckfilled westchester to see if santa was there which he WAS so we park and walk through the myriad of burberry clad people to be stopped at the santa line cuz he was taking a break in 15 minutes. best part of this? we were in the mall for maybe 3 minutes and we STILL had to pay $3 for parking.

seriously. what should go here now? yes! HUMBUG! BA! however, that is so not me...


the tree:

just taking a break from decorating.

i am like, not even 1/2 way done decorating; however, the tree looks great! i saw this cool thing on myspace. there are 74 bands represented in this crazy picture. i know what some of them are, but it's so crazy hard. see if you can get all 74.



i know there's gn'r, sex pistols, alice in chains, nine inch nails, rolling stones, lemon heads, 50cent, led zep, queen, prince, garbage, rhcp, hole, black flag, rat, phish, the eagles, white zombie, hole, smashing pumpkins, white snake...i have to see if there's an anwer key anywhere...yup. when you think you've solved it, or you just give up, go here: Solved!