My Christmas Wish

Clarity

The past week has been one that will not soon be forgotten. I've been to dinners, had drinks with friends, thrown a party, saw Lucero, The Glass, The Reigning Sound and The Hives, seen my entire family, eaten too much, eaten too little, felt great, felt terrible, been pissed off, told people how much I appreciate them, danced my ass off, seen people I haven't spoken to in 10 years, and basically wore my self the hell out. And so now my friends, I am offcially on hiatus.

I need a huge break. I have been very disappointed in a lot of people lately and how they have treated me. When you are late, you don't call or you don't show up it shows a total lack of respect and maturity, not to mention that you don't value my time or my friendship. I feel used up and I know its partially my fault. It takes two.

Maybe I expect too much. It seems in this city, and probably most others, people screw you over and dont really think twice about it. They've been screwed over before and they think that's just how people are to each other and they accept it. Well, I don't. It's almost like people push you to the point of daring you to say something to them. Their defense mechanism kicks in before you even get a chance to say anything.

So, I'm taking a step back and some time off.

But don't worry, I'll still have plenty to say - everyone knows I always have an opinion.

I'm Not Broken, Buy You can See My Cracks

A lot of people let me down this week. There's no reason to get into any details. They know who they are and they know why.

So, you know what they say, if you don't have anything positive to say, don't say anything at all.

BTW

If you have been paying attention, you may already know that Scenestars is having another event Thanksgiving weekend. Due to a double booking fiasco, we have had to adjust nights and line-ups. So it has been moved to Thanksgiving night. When you get sick of eating and listening to your uncle Cliff's conspiracy theories, head on down to the Buc and have a beer. Here's the new deal:

I Get Knocked Down, But I Get Up Again

My weekend kind of sucked. My friends kind of treated me like crap this weekend. Asking lots of favors and showing no appreciation. Maybe I was just in a bad mood. Who knows. This week should be much better. I guess I am gonna check out the Lucero show Wednesday night at The Deli. Why not, right? Thursday night is the big SS shindig, no plans for Friday yet, Saturday night is Geezerfest and Sunday is The Hives at The Daisy.

Ok, one rant, cause it happened to me twice this weekend.

It is so durst when you ask someone to do something more than two days ahead of time for them to refuse to commit because they "don't make plans that far in advance." Ok, give me an effing break. YOU ARE LAME. I would at least respect you if you told the truth, as in, "I can't really commit to doing something with you next week, because anything could happen between now and then, a Dutch supermodel could ask me back to her hotel room where we may stay in bed all weekend participating in the sex olympics and then she might ask me to accompany her back to Amsterdam to meet her father, the King. In which case, if I say yes now, I may have to call and cancel, which I probably would feel too awkward to actually do, because you may, of course, have a nervous breakdown on the phone and start crying and then run and tell all of your friends about what an asshole I am, thereby really effing up my chances with sleeping with your friends at some point in the future. Or I could just end up getting sloshed all weekend and hitting on girls who totally blow me off as the loser that I am, as by then I may need to go out with you next week in order for you to help me boost my ego back to it's inflated proportions. Either way, I won't really know until Monday."

To which I would have certainly replied, "You are such a jackass....I'll talk to you Monday."

My Virtual Reality

Thanks to Uncle Grambo, here's the virtual picture of me in a bikini you've been asking for. Don't forget to print it out and put it up on your wall. All sizes and measurements are 100% true, thank you. The model, really isn't that off, but I suppose I could use a few more sit-ups to make it 100% accurate. You can go make your own virtual model here. If the picture was worse, it would probably convince me to go to yoga today, but right now I'm feeling pretty darn good and am thinking maybe a nap would be more appropriate.

Big Dick Cheney

I had an entire conversation with someone, don't remember who, about this photo one night this week. I had not yet seen the photo. Now, I get it.

Anyone know where this picture originated? It looks like it's from a newspaper story. Anyway, I am beyond words and kind of aroused. So, insert your own crude comment.

This is funny too.

And don't forget ya Yiddish Lessons. Oy!

Is this guy for real? You may pass out from laughing so hard.

And if you're still bored, here's How I Paid For College.

Thanks NYT - For NOTHING!

Just as the NYT made bloggers dating bloggers lame last week by letting someone write a totally durst article about it, now they've mentioned The Postal Service for the third time in 10 days and made them lame. Not to mention, Ben Gibbard has signed my beloved Death Cab for Cutie to a major label, and we won't even talk about the whole O.C. fiasco. I'll be in my closet listening to the new Styrofoam record - don't tell anybody.

Direct Hit

So, I took DuWellington's advice and checked out Cory Branan last night at the Hi-Tone. I originally went to hit on Jen's boyfriend, but he didn't show up and the place was the audience equivalent of a N*SYNC concert (i.e. all girls), so I decided to hit on Cory Branan.

He had been pointed out to me a couple of times the past few months around mid-town's hipster bars. Someone would say, "Look, there's Cory Branon." To which I would reply, "Who?"

Then one night I was at the Two-Way with my friend Brandon, also a singer-songwriter guy, and he introduced me to him. He's about to move to Williamsburg, which I should probably not comment on. No judgement. Anyway, he's kind of Ryanesque, so of course, even though it really gets on my nerves sometimes to listen to smoking-hot musicians sing song after song about heartbreak and pain, and all the women that have done them wrong - as all the girls in the audience wet their panties, I still asked him out, natch.

Anyway, it was a good show. Cory played with this other guy named Blair. They switched off playing songs, and they did some covers including stuff by The Misfits, Tom Waits, The Ramones, and Wilco - and that's a hard mix to pull off. I asked the Blair guy what his last name was, but I forgot what he said. Patrik liked his voice a lot. Anyone else see the show?

Anyway, after the show, I dropped Patrik off and met up with Mark, Natasha, Steve, and Scott at the Deli. Drinking ensued. Obvs.

From SorryEverybody.com

This one is my favorite.

Best. New Year's. Ever.

After pulling a late-nighter Monday, which included drinks at El Porton, more drinks at The Deli and um, some drinks at The Flying Saucer, I didn't think I was going to make it out last night. But, somehow I managed to make an appearance at a few places around town. The only thing really worth mentioning though is that I got to see The Mosquitos play at The Hi-Tone. I really had no idea who they were, but Monday night about eleventy thousand people were talking about checking out the show.

They were pretty good, kind of an indie-brazillian-jazzy thing going on. Mark missed the show, but I was nice enough to introduce him to the singer and so he bought a CD and plans to write about it on Scenestars, so stay tuned if you missed the show but wanna know what they sound like. I met her when she came over to the DJ set-up after the show and fawned all over The Hook-Up's record collection and made his night. I need an accent. Guys dig girls with accents.

I also had a chance meeting with my dear old friend Truett at The Blue Monkey, just before last call last night. I miss that guy.

In other news, Mark and I got our tickets today for Amsterdam for New Year's Eve. Get Down!

Earning It

Alright people, get a sense of humor or go home.

1. I never said anything about Kerry being pro-gay marriage. I was only pointing out the irony of a country that has the outlook of:

Two people of the same gender committing their lives to each other = BAD

War = Go USA!

2. I made the Sydney comment a couple of weeks ago in jest. If I say something is Hott! - It's called sarcasm. I would think certain people would know that by now.

3. And for the guy who wrote:

Your lastest diatribe really peaked my interest. Why do you think we were attacked on 9/11? Is it because there was a republican in the white house? Are terrorist selective in their attacks. Would they now look at the map and plot only against the red states and leave the blue states alone?

Where do I begin?

Why were we attacked on 9/11? Because the brown people are evil, godless devil spawn who hate us because they are jealous of us, of course.

We were attacked because we have designs on a different culture's holy lands and we are using them as a means to an end. Newsflash: People don't like this. We as Americans, nor George Bush, were put here by God to save everyone else from themselves. Iraq had nothing to do with us being attacked by Al Queda. This is not a new or original theory. Read a book. If an army came into our country and tried to make gay marriage legal, you know, civilize us and bring us to the point where they thought that we should be as a society, they would be getting their asses shot up too. Get a clue! Do I think terrorists are now going to plot against red states? Hell, effing, yes.

Excerpt from the Daily Show, via Abby:

Stewart: What do you think won this thing for Bush? What did it for him?

Colbert: Well, here’s the thing, Jon. We in New York are too close to the terrorism and the gay people. Only the red states, with the advantage of a safe distance, can take in the whole picture and clearly see what we should do about those issues. And so, on behalf of everyone living in the blue states, I’d like to thank the red states for saving us from ourselves.

I would sure like to hear more from you kids out there who have never had a significant relationship with a gay person or lived through a terrorist attack. I've earned the right to my opinion, where does your's come from?

Loss

I guess it's time to address the loss, you know, the presidential loss. I've kind of ignored it the past couple of weeks. I think it's really hilarious that so many people have felt the need to come here and be snarky about it. If Kerry had won, I can't imagine having the need for a nanny nanny boo boo moment. But, I guess some people really have nothing better to do with their time.

So, here are just a couple of things that I've been thinking about the loss, and after this, I probably won't talk much about politics for a while. I like to focus on the positive and I refuse to be one of those annoying belly-achers who has a complaint about everything that happens in politics.

So, first of all, I think it's kind of scary the way the news shows laid out the red states versus the blue states in the election coverage. I know that they do this every year, but this year it seemed like it was almost pointing out to terrorists who their new targets should be. Good news? New York, you're off the hook. Bad news - I kind of feel like I live on a great big bull's eye - right at the epicenter of three red states.

The other thing that I wanted to point out to all the proud red staters out there, as more and more of your sons and daughters risk their lives and die in an unnecessary war, when it comes time to put them into the ground and bury them, I hope that one thing will bring back your faith in mankind and get you through your time of loss: At least those goddamn gays can't get married.

Blues Is My Business, And Business Is Good

Just kidding. I actually had an awesome weekend, I went to brunch this morning at Bosco's and Joyce Cobb played, so that song has been in my head all day. I am contemplating going out tonight, but it would probably be better to stay in and get a good night's sleep.

Friday night I had plans to meet a friend for margeritas, but he bailed at the last minute to go see the Grizzlies. So, I stopped by another friend's place and then ended up hanging out, going and having some wine at La Tourelle, going back to my friend's, getting into my car to go home, ending up at XYZ, and then at a house party until the early morning. It's funny how when you don't plan anything - there's no telling what you will end up getting into.

Saturday night I had definite plans, but I ended up throwing them all out the window and still having a great time. Bayne and I had plans to go to The Shotgun Wedding party at Melange. We thought it would be really funny to get dressed up in our White Trash outfits and go to Cielo's for dinner. I wanted to wear padding and be pregnant and go in and order Boone's Farm and ask for an ashtray. I planned on blacking one of my eyes and bragging to the waiter that my man only had to tell me once!

Anyway, I stayed out so late Friday that I was draggin' all day Saturday and so when Bayne called to say that he couldn't figure out what to wear, it didn't take any arm twisting for me to not dress up. Anyway, we ended up going to The Beauty Shop to eat instead. Next stop, Boscos, then back to Bayne's to give Court a PA for his party at XYZ, then back to Boscos, then to Melange, then to XYZ, then to Mile's afterparty, then to Alex's Tavern.

The party at Melange was off the hook, I'm really glad Brian and Dave got an awesome turnout. Here are some pics. Court said that his party was kickin' also, we got there just in time to hear three songs before they kicked us out. The Hook-up played and hopefully his faith is renewed in DJ'ing in Memphis!

Anyway, lots of stuff coming up. I'll see ya out on the town.

Party Mention in The Memphis Flyer

It's press day here.

The Scenestars party got mentioned in The Memphis Flyer this week in a pub crawl story.

11:30 p.m.: Sailing into the peak drinking hours, I meet up with another friend at the Buccaneer for the Scenestars DJ party. The Buccaneer is tucked away between Madison and Union in Midtown, but the pirate-themed atmosphere and live music attract an eclectic crew.

I'm not sure what style of music would best accent a bar that looks like a pirate ship, but as one customer says, the Scenestars' "lo-fi funk, urban sound" seems to work. This Cheers-meets-Long John Silver atmosphere is far from clubby though. As bartender Andrew James says, "We're looking for pro-drinkers here. No amateurs." A full bar is offered, but given the Honey Brown and assorted ales on tap, I'd recommend sticking to beer. That's free advice from this pro drinker. Anchors aweigh.

So, I think that means she liked it, right?

Scenestars Mention In WSJ

Yesterday I was woken up by a call from a reporter from the Wall Street Journal. He was doing a story on Project D.U. and wanted to interview me about my involvement in the project. I was excited to talk to him about SBC and Scenestars. Then I woke up this morning and read the story. It seems with every interview I've done, they take the lamest sentence I utter and stick it at the end of the story. At least they linked our site in the sidebar.

If you wanna read the article and don't want to register, make the jump.

SBC Attempts to Craft a Hip Image

By BRIAN STEINBERG
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
November 12, 2004; Page B6

Telecommunications giant SBC Communications is trying to shake off its old-school image as a dowdy provider of phone service by tapping into the new-frontier power of Weblogs.

The company in September quietly launched a Weblog portal located at www.projectdu.com and known as "Project D.U." -- the initials stand for "Digital Universe." Surfers are greeted by links to such categories as "music" and "entertainment," which in turn lead people to about 30 Weblogs, those quirky but burgeoning Web-based diaries of commentary and opinion, also known as blogs. Project D.U. carries a reminder that it is "presented by SBC."

Also available: an invitation to download a free Weblog reader. The technology involved essentially ships blog content to individual computer users. People who accept the reader aren't limited to SBC's blog choices. In fact, they can customize the reader to get any type of downloadable information they might want, says Michael Grasso, SBC's executive director of consumer marketing.

With traditional land-line phone service becoming more antiquated with every passing day, SBC has branched into other worlds: high-speed DSL data lines, satellite television and wireless service through its co-ownership of Cingular Wireless. The portal, says Mr. Grasso, serves to remind younger consumers that SBC enables links to all sorts of information and entertainment -- without the hard sell that usually turns off the age group.

BLOGOSPHERE VOYAGES

SBC is sponsoring a "Weblog portal," www.projectdu.com, that links users to a number of interesting blogs. Some of them:

• www.popbytes.com: Spirited takes on pop culture, music, television

• www.scenestars.net: This MP3 blog has links to under-the-radar musicians including Bruno E. and De-Phazz

• www.twelveblackcodemonkeys.blog-city.com: News and commentary on gadgets and technology

• www.sportsfrog.com: Dissections of sports and media, with an opinionated forum known as "the swamp."

Source: WSJ Research



"The reality is, they are willing to accept marketing messages, but you've got to give them something of value for their time," says Todd Copilevitz, director of digital initiatives for Omnicom Group's TracyLocke, which helped SBC create and operate the D.U. site. The pair examined more than 700 different Weblogs over the summer -- checking for attitude, content and the consistency of the posts.

Blogs and the people behind them have steadily gained notice in recent months. Bloggers helped promote early looks at exit-poll results in the recent presidential election, for example. These scribes can generate debate and controversy, and aren't bound by traditional media rules.

One media buyer suggests the sites remain too wild and woolly for associations with blue-chip marketers. "You are one click away" from material that could be controversial, says David Cohen, an interactive-media specialist with Interpublic Group's Universal McCann. Besides, "we're dealing with a community and a group of people who are hypersensitive to marketing. In my opinion, there are other places to fish that are much more lucrative."

But some of that unruliness is part of this project's charm. "To make this homogenized is to make this boring, and kill the very nature of the concept," says Mr. Copilevitz. "This isn't for every company."

Besides, SBC is marketing the project gingerly. Print ads were placed in college papers at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Texas at Austin. Some customers were contacted via opt-in e-newsletters and other permission-based programs. SBC is setting up an interactive display of its products and services at college-football games and promoting Project D.U. in the process.

Bloggers involved in this venture are being paid a small stipend. In return, they are linking to the D.U. site, agreeing to make a certain number of posts regularly and not running ads from SBC competitors. But no one is altering content or ideas.

For example, the bloggers at The Sports Frog, a sports-oriented blog, didn't pause before deciding to post comments about SBC's rejected efforts to sponsor a football match between Ohio State University and the University of Michigan. "We didn't think twice about what we said about that. That's just not a concern of ours," says Aaron Parker, one of the site's bloggers. "I don't feel like they are involved at all," says Rachel Hurley, who runs the Scenestars music blog. No doubt, that's the effect SBC wants.

Write to Brian Steinberg at brian.steinberg@wsj.com

Email of the Day

Of my friends and myself who attended the Bucc party for your blog,
bravo! In fact, one of my friends Mike had such a rockin' time he tore
his ACL on the de facto dance floor.

Jamie

Put A Fork In Me

Flip-flops in November, hairy armpits, satchels, bad rhythmic dancing, too much facial hair, and knit hats.

Where are you?

Medeski, Martin & Wood show.

It was the deadhead's revenge. Just like The Killers, they only have eight songs. Unlike The Killers, each one is eleventy thousand hours long.

Seriously, if you've heard The Beastie's The In Sound From Way Out, then you didn't miss anything.

Quote of the evening?

"If I can smell it, let me inhale it!"

And I have decided against doing my lame guy rant. I'm done.

I will say this though, last night when I was crawling into bed alone, I had an epiphany about why we all want companionship and put up with so much crap to obtain it: We all have this inherent need to have a reason to turn off the television and get away from Usher videos and Girls Gone Wild infomercials.

Cluelessness, Flodging and White Trash

The last two weeks of my life have been one giant whirlwind of activity. I've been working on a national ad campaign shooting in Memphis, and I've been going non-stop. I've also been in two car wrecks, planned and had a party at The Buc, helped plan and direct a major redesign on my other website (which should be up soon - oh, and I hear we're in Q magazine this month - haven't had a chance to check it out yet), I've met a ton of interesting people, and I've still managed to hang out with some cute, yet for some reason, ridiculously clueless guys.

I'm not gonna write too much about my job other than to say it was one of the best I've ever had. The photographer and art director are pretty major players and a dream to work with. Great experience, great time, good money, fun people - what else could you ask for? People in this city owe me lots of drinks - you know who you are!

The party at the Buc was a little weird. All of my friends totally flodged and I was kind of sad around 12AM when there were only about 40 peeps at the bar. I went out back to chat with a couple of people, and about 45 minutes later Jason comes up to me and asks if I had been inside lately cause the place was crunk. I walked inside and was floored to see the place packed with people and everybody getting down. Big ups to Mr. White and Witness for throwing down some killer tunes on the fly and even more respect goes out to Don, Brandon, Justin, Patrik and Mark for making everything happen and run so smoothly!

The Buc wants us back ASAP and so we're in the process of getting something together for Thanksgiving weekend. I'l post something as soon as I figure out the details.

So, yeah, I've been super busy - and I know there are tons of emails I need to return - sorry I've slacked - I care, I really do, I just haven't been able to get around to them! I should be caught up by this weekend. Speaking of this weekend, this is where I plan to be:

Anyway, I have this whole rant in my head about why guys are so totally lame, like for instance, if you ask a guy out and he accepts, then once he says yes that's when he should stop talking about how other girls he sees are hot.

Is this rocket science or common sense? More tomorrow...

BEST. EVER.

As I grow in age, I value women who are over 30 most of all. Here are just a few reasons why:

-Andy Rooney

THANKS ELLEN!

In Case You Were Wondering

Party Fun.

Recovery Painful.

More laters...

All Day I Dream About Sleep

Much to say, no time to say it.

I have a 24 hour J-O-B right now - back soon...

GO VOTE TODAY!

Is there anything else to say?

Don't flodge!

Today is the first day of the rest of your life!

I'll either be partying in the streets tonight or packing my bags for Sydney.

Australians are so HOTT!