i carry your heart with me..

Bright Lights, Big City......

2007-07-19T12:45:00.000-04:00

When I was the NEW kid in NYC, a man dressed in black looking a little like a NARC and a little like a PUBLIC PERVERT that hangs on the subway gestured to me come over as I was looking for the NEXT EXIT out of this grimy UNTITLED, illegal lower east side dive. To much forced PDA and stitled conversation here.

The man in black seemed like another OBSTACLE 1,2 but this bar was EVIL tonight and NOT EVEN JAIL would make me stay. He said C'MERE while he beckoned me to the door with his MAMMOTH fingers. I was lonely in this big city - never in my life before did I feel it a TIME, TO BE SMALL so I moved forward slowly, remembering PACE IS THE TRICK. SLOW HANDS wrapped around my wrist pulling me out in the light of street lamp. I was ALL FIRED UP by this boldness and came at him like a WRECKING BALL and growled at him "HANDS AWAY buddy. WHO DO YOU THINK you are?"

He said "I am the SPECIALIST.. And I want to TAKE YOU ON A CRUISE." I just rolled my eyes, oh the SCALE of the lies men will go to for LENGTHS OF LOVE. The MASCARA on my eyes smudged on my cheek and he bent forward brushed it away. I felt my heart PRECIPITATE as the REST MY CHEMISTRY became flushed. He grabbed my hand and said come with me to PIONEERS TO THE FALLS. What I said? A bar on Avenue A.

We moved like LEIF ERICKSON in search of a beacon from a phantom LIGHTHOUSE on unchartered shores.

SAY HELLO TO ANGELS as we walked into the half empty bar and then he introduced me to ROLAND, who was cutting with array of knives limes, maked them perfectly CUBED. Then I met his other mate. HEINRICH MANUEVER close to me while my STRANGER IN THE NIGHT got me a drink. Both his friends leered at me in a hungry way and I knew that there would be NO I IN A THREESOME tonight with them and slinked away slowly.

The man in black returned. And said come with me to the jukebox. I want show you something. He said play SONG SEVEN. I did.

As the room became filled by a booming voice singing "STELLA IS A DIVER AND SHE IS ALWAYS DOWN," I turned to my companion who was quietly gaging my reaction while smoking a marlboro red and asked him what his name was. And he replied Paul and I was listening to a song of his new album.

And that is how i became introduced to INTERPOL*

(It is mostly somewhat true story. Please note names of people and places have been changes to protect the innocent and maybe to get all the names of the songs in their catalog to fit).

So, I wrote this little story to try to win tickets from Gothamist to Interpol's concert in Atlantic City. I have not heard anything yet so I assume I was not the winner. Oh well, It occupied a good hour or so on a very boring work day at the NRDC.

Day after day...

2007-07-19T11:54:00.000-04:00

I guess I have not posted my blog in almost two years. Alot has happened since the halcyon times in good ole London town. I promise I will fill you in. In fact, there is much I need to tell you of my past. And I will.

But for now, all you need to know is I am back in the East Village

I am Rick James, Bitch.... (Create an Image)

2005-03-06T17:56:00.000-05:00

So, I was playing around with this cool little google option called Montage-a-Google; which creates a collage of images from any Google Image search results.

All you do is enter your subject's name (such as Paris Hilton or Michael Jackson) optionally set how many images and what size your montage should be, and then watch the page fill up with pictures.

If you want to enlarge a particular image, all you have do is click on an image to see the original. Hours of enjoyment....

So, I decided to type in one of the more colorful musicians Mr. Rick James and strangely enough an image from the Family Circus cartoon was in the montage....

It kinda proves my theory that the only reason Family Circus has been able to keep its spot in the Sunday Comics is a pact with the devil...mmmm, dare I say it.."Super Freaky."

Me needs da Needs.....

2005-03-03T16:39:00.000-05:00

Special Needs, originally uploaded by rojacaliente.

ripped from the Special Needs forum:

Nambucca is now Bigger, Better, Booty-shaking-er and BACK FOR MORE!!!

Special Needs in association with pure groove PRESENT...

Funfairs & Heartbreak

at Nambucca, 596 Holloway Road, nearest tube Archway

from 6 til 1, Â£1 Entry after 8pm, Â£2 pints, free scrabble

***NOTE new later opening, no stupid 'no-one in after 11' shite and barely bank busting door charge***

anyone who wants more information on changes at Nambucca can email me at jennyjenny@puregroove.co.uk

This month...

Special Needs, LIVE!!!

The Holloways, born in Nambucca itself (I cut the cord). These boys personify and amplify the sound of London town, poetic, lilting, thoughtful and frenetic some of you may have seen them support babyshambles at Bucca.

Hadleigh Ford, providing the 'variety' angle, so I hear. A peculiar acoustic set provided by Zac's cousin's mate's dog's babysitting vicar.

and an exclusive gig from Joe Driscoll, on a brief stint over from NYC, this human music machine is wowing crowds around London cropping up at impromtu gigs in his lo-fi high-top beatbox stylee for the next week, catch him while you can.

This Friend of Mine......

2005-03-03T11:22:00.000-05:00

Down Loading Porn with Dave-O, originally uploaded by rojacaliente.

Q4music has a great little interview vignette on Mr. Adam Green, formerly of the Moldy Peaches. Adam, in the video, talks with Q about his inspiration for his newly released and quirky album, Gemstones.

To be honest, I just enjoyed watching it because Adam is one of my old homies from the hood...He is one of the nicest guys around, if not the silliest. I can't tell you how many times I have seen him play...Always a fun show (don't let his anti-folk garb and sensibilities fool you, I swear he secretly desires to be a lounge singer)...A little bit of a clown but always super sweet....

Anyways, check it out... To see the Q4music interview, click here

More info: www.adamgreen.net

Festival Season is around the corner.....

2005-03-02T12:08:00.000-05:00

So, T in the Park sold out in a matter of days... and like me you had no idea they went on sale.. Scratch that one of your list.

Just to make sure you are paying attention...The people at The Carling Weekend: Reading Festival this year decided to release a few tickets early this year. mmmm as in TODAY.

But no worries...Tickets will officially go on-sale after the line-up for the event, taking place from Friday 26th to Sunday 28th August, is announced on Monday 21st March at 7pm. To read more, click here.

Also important to note....Tickets for Glastonbury 2005 go on sale at 9am on Sunday 3 April, and cost £125 plus £4 booking fee and £4 postage and packing.

E.T. Phone Me........

2005-03-02T11:46:00.000-05:00

th-ETCVLG_ET-FS35, originally uploaded by rojacaliente.

This is for all of you (and you know who you are) whose guilty pleasure is scouring through Craig's list missed connections in hope that may be the missed connection. Well, here is one out of this world...

According to The San Jose Mercury News:

Craigslist Chief Executive Jim Buckmaster won an eBay auction over the weekend - at $1,225 - for the chance to send a message into outer space. Florida's Deep Space Communications Network, an audio and video production company, will transmit the postings at least one light year into space using its existing satellite broadcasting gear.

Here's what the ad will say:

Missed Connection with Gentle Alien (M4M? M4F?)

You: Short, gray skinned, large brained alien being.

Me: Back roads motorist beamed up onto ship.

You had me at "We mean you no harm." The gentle way in which you drew my blood, urine, and semen and probed my rectum made me fall for you right away. I was so sad when you deposited me back in my car and erased our time together from my memory. But how can I forget you? The subdermal tracking device you placed in my buttocks keeps beating. As does my heart.

Care for another encounter? Email me if you want to meet for coffee.

Baby, beam me up....

Now the neighbors can dance... Here comes the Arcade Fire

2005-02-27T17:48:00.000-05:00

Run... I tell you...Don't walk and snatch up the Arcade Fire's debut album called Funeral released in the UK tomorrow on Rough Trade.....

Released last year in North America, the album was on every who's who of music critics top five albums of 2004 and is projected to take to the UK like wild fire. All I know is this album is my number one most played artist and track on my audioscrabble list and I have had the disk only since Christmas. I love it.....

Even more exciting is that they will be town this month to play two small venues in London and then will return in May to tour the whole UK. This is what has been announced so far:

4th May Manchester MDH
5th May Glasgow Debating Chamber
6th May Birmingham Academy
8th May Bristol Academy
9th May London Astoria

They put on a great show I have heard...This October they went to CMJ festival in New York and played a small gig which my sources said was one of the best shows in ages. They were the darlings of CMJ... A few months later, the buzz around them was so great that the record company moved their original venue at the Bowery (Astoria sized) to two shows at Brixton sized venues. Both shows sold out no problem......

No Brakes now! The other upcoming band of the moment in the UK.... The Bravery will play an instore gig at HMV on Oxford Street at 6pm tomorrow, 28 February 2005. Most of their shows are already sold out the next couple months so this might be your only chance to see them for awhile!

100% Better Club

2005-02-26T16:12:00.000-05:00

Today, Babyshambles put on a vibrant and kinectic show at the famed 100 Club on Oxford Street (gawd, the last time I was there was in the early 90's to see a big band play swing.) Anyways, Babyshambles seemed to be having a grand ole time playing at this small, smoky basement venue. There was a much nicer vibe than the Brixton show, even though there seemed to be just as many celebs: Jonny from Razorlight, the guy from Primal Scream and a few faces I recognize from somewhere but I am not a native to the land so the names escape me...

Babyshambles shows are always better when they are closer in proximity to the fans...

Pete also seem to be in a better mindset. He joked around with Patrick and even made an attempt to leap into the crowd but the hired muscle pulled him quickly back...He even quietly wished me happy birthday in between sets* as write this I begin to giggle like a school girl.....

Enough gabbing... I actually need to rush off....I am off to catch the Metro Riots at the Barfly and then the secret guest (?British Sea Power?)at the Frog. Sometimes, London is too much fun...

Here are some photos of the show:

I love the next photo of Pete. It really captures how I think he must feel. It is very honest.

It is cool also in black and white...

A howl screams out in the Urban Jungle: Guerilla Gig about to happen

2005-02-25T14:34:00.000-05:00

The Others, originally uploaded by rojacaliente.

The Others just announced that they are going to hold one of their signature Guerilla gigs tonight.

They will be doing a gig on the pavement outside the South Kensington museum at 7.45pm.

If you missed their infamous Guerilla gig on the tube. Here is your chance to be part of what make the British music scene so much fun and just plain cool.....

Double-Gizzy D-to-tha-izzogg

2005-02-24T13:16:00.000-05:00

Iz fo all beothches who wanna find shiztnit! Just gizoogle it:

Gizoogle

Do it Snoop doggy style.....

Even hotter iz thiz mizup of Snoop Dogg ft. Pharrell - Drop It Like It's Hot + Huey Lewis and the News - Power of Love=

Drop It Like It's Huey

The Man Who Came to Stay For Awhile (Cross our fingers)

2005-02-23T17:13:00.000-05:00

So, it was another two shambolic nights with Pete and the gang of gin....

The Garage on Monday was a quiet, intimate little affair but with a element of speed dating involved....

The evening started out with the following support acts General Khaki, The Cazals and Alan Wass. All played quite good but rushed sets in order to ensure that Pete finished in time to meet his curfew of 10 pm.

Pete showed up tonight to the venue with a slightly different entourage than usual. Instead of the hangeron harpies, assorted drug dealers and groupies, it was his mom, manager and court appointed security guards. Pete looked good but as good as some one in the throes of getting over an addiction X 2... He cheeks seemed flushed and his eyes were unglazed... (It has been awhile since I have seen him this alive and aware looking.)

At one point in the show, he flashed us his implants (makes you think at first when I said that that he had a little silicone action done.. man breastages like in Fight Club!) His implants are part his rehab treatment and will help him get over his addiction to heroin.

Overall it was pretty good show, not their most energetic, but I think it is a little hard for them focus when all this other stuff is going on and with the paparazzi and the critics watching every move.

Moreover Pete has to contend with so much going on physically and emotionally, I think he must be so overwhelmed, confused and exhausted by the last few weeks, oh hell the last year....

One interesting thing I noticed was when Pete made a gesture that he was going to stage dive into the crowd and you should have seen how fast the hired muscle moved to intervene. I guess one of the conditions of his bail is that he is not allowed to leave the stage who he does a show. I think Pete was pretty frustrated by this because he could not interact with the crowd on his terms. His relationship with the crowd and his fans is a real important component to his success with both the Libertines and Babyshambles. He seems to feed off their energy and adoration...

I tried to get a some good photos of Pete but he seem to pogo in and out of my photos and then my battery went dead (of course!) But I do have a nice shot of Alan Wass who you may have also read in tabloids as Pete's partner in crime. He played a nice bluesy set between the always enjoyable Cazals and Babyshambles:

Alan Wass: Peter's Lefthand man, originally uploaded by rojacaliente.

Brixton, on the other hand, was more of a circus...

As soon as I arrived, I saw Mick Jones saunter by and I knew it was going to be one of the shows. Flash, dash and bells and whistle.....

Usually, it is the presence of Kate Moss at a show that heralds this response but considering the events of the last few weeks, I don't think she will be making an appearance anytime soon. Plus, she probably has heard the Bravery are playing in few days and needs to tart herself up for the newest "hot thing with guitar strings."

This was my first time at the Brixton Academy. I tend to avoid bigger venues unless they are festivals. But Brixton was not bad at all, it reminds me of Roseland in New York. Most of the people I talked to in the crowd had never seen Babyshambles or the Libertines, so, I guess all the hype introduced Babyshambles to a new fan base.

The line up consisted of the Paddingtons who have a Sex Pistol ethos about them, the Cazal who are really solid, interesting band, Alan Wass who has a real strong bluesy voice and Babyshambles...

Tonight, the show did not feel as rushed as the night before but people seemed pretty anxious for Babyshambles to play but considering their past track record no one ever feels truly assured that the gig will go on until Pete is actually on stage with mike in hand. Even sometimes that is not a guarantee.

Mick Jones came on stage and introduced Babyshambles while in the wings stood one of those Gallagher brothers (I was living deep in the jungle in an indigenous village in Central America as Peace Corp volunteer when they became huge and never really learned how to distinguish the two because by the time I reemerged into the Western world their time had passed.)

When Pete entered on stage looking more and more like the rock legend that he could become, the crowd surged forward screaming his name and reaching out for him. It always surprises me how much Pete can incite such devotion and raw emotional outburst from the crowd. I have seen girls cry by his mere presence and always the boys jump on stage in hopes for a hug or handshake. There is something about him that is very charismatic.

About a song into their set, the crowd became a little unruly and overexcited and a portion behind me (I was in the front) fell to the ground. Many of those trapped seem to be very young girls who could not pick themselves out of the pile while the crowds from behind were pushing forward thinking this open space was theirs for the taking. People were really getting trampled and no one seem to be helping them. Pete had to stop the set and tell people to move back so those who had fallen could get up. (What has happened to crowd/pit ethics where everyone is responsible to ensure that the person next to them stays safe* I say as I think about the good ole days of yesteryear when I used to slamdance, not mosh!)

Then a few songs later Pete seem to have a scuffle with Pat. All I saw out of the corner of my eye was Pete lunge at Pat and pop him in the face. Then, I had someone stagediving land on my head so I did see what happened after the initial spar. When the person finally was pulled of me, the stage had been emptied. I am not sure what went on but I have seen Pete and Pat wrestle with each other before on stage... They kinda act like brothers... I also think Pete is still very on edge and still little hostile about situation. I think he is having a hard time coming to terms with all that is happened and expressing his anger in a productive way.... Reality can be quite a bummer!

But who cares really, the beauty of a Babyshambles show is that you never know what is going to happen on stage. Never a dull moment...

I guess they had a time out backstage because they came back all happy and buddies again. They played a few more songs without incident. The highlights of the evening were a very passionate version of 'Fuck Forever' and the reemergence of 'Gang Of Gin', 'Black Boy Lane', and 'Albion' to the set list.

Overall, it was not their greatest show but it is nice to see Pete play without having to worry if this will be last show ever.

Paris is burning- hacking her way into everyone's life

2005-02-23T11:26:00.000-05:00

Just in case, you haven't heard Paris Hilton's t-mobile was hacked this weekend and all her numbers, notes and photos were put on the internet for the whole world to view.....

My favorite is her photo album her photo album It is so random. Paris with a little baby, Paris kissing a girl topless and Paris with an owl....

The question I keep asking myself when I look at her photos is would I keep naked pictures of myself in my t-mobile. I do own two t-mobile (one for when I am in the states and the other for when I am in the United Kingdom)but they are the cheapest of the cheapest.. No features other than to make calls and text so I guess I will never know.

In the spirit of cranker yankers, here is collection of prank calls that were made to all her celeb buddies. They are actually pretty lame but when you think about it most prank phone calls tend to be unless you are pretty wasted. Then, they are hilarious....

Will there ever be a week without Paris being in the press?

Curfew Extended....Ex-Libertine Liberated for a Day.

2005-02-21T10:01:00.000-05:00

Free Pete, originally uploaded by courtesy of Ultragrrl.

The campaign seems to be working......

Well, Mr. Doherty, ex-lib and sometimes a complete shambles, has been allowed to stay out a little bit later than his mandated curfew on Tuesday, so it looks like Brixton is a go.... Hopefully, there will be no repeat of bad habits i.e. not turning up to shows.....

Interestingly, they say his next court date is April 18th so I guess he will have to live under the strict conditions of the court's 10:00 pm curfew for at least two more months.... Geez, and I thought be grounded for two weeks was unfathomable when I was teenager.

Well, I am off to the Garage tonight to see his warm up show.... (I have a strong feeling the audience will consist of me, loyal fan and the paparazzi vultures waiting to see any traces of bad behavior).

A New York State of Mind in ole London Town

2004-11-02T18:44:00.000-05:00

Greetings..... I just jumped the pond from New York City to London a month ago. In New York, I lived and breathed the lower east side music scene. If you go to shows, then you probably saw me, little redhead, in the front row.

I am now in London where there is also a music revival going on very similar to New York but with its own feel and personality.

My goal of this blog is to help showcase bands from both sides of the Atlantic.