I don't know, but here I am!! Where the hell have I been? Sorry, sorry! I've got an extended post coming, but no time tonight, so I'll just leave you with this:
That's the first single and video for Tinted Windows, the "supergroup" with James Iha, a guy from Cheap Trick, someone from Fountains of Wayne and Mr. Taylor Hanson on lead vocals. That still makes no sense to me. Anyway, as you can see, Taylor is clearly dressing for me now. Good boy. Also? Very catchy tune.
Their album came out today and I gave it a listen on my way to and from work and aside from about 2 bum songs, it's pretty good. Very power-poppy and different. At first, I was looking at the album from the standpoint of the Taylor Hanson scholar that I am, so I was all, "Hmmm. He clearly didn't have a big hand in writing these songs because he's not playing to all of his vocal strengths." (People, I could write a dissertation on him - remember when he called me? Oh my God.) But once I got all of that out of my system, I just started listening to the tunes from an unbiased standpoint and most of them were quite catchy and fun. The album isn't going to change anyone's life, but it's a fun listen. I'm missing the patented Taylor moans and shouts of "come on!" that pepper most Hanson records, but in return I do get him dressing for me and singing a song called Cha Cha. It's no moaning, but I'll take it.
You know, sometimes it gets sad when I'm hanging out with my younger friends and I find out that they have never heard songs like Photograph by Def Leppard or Home Sweet Home by Motley Crue. (Paul: "I only know the Carrie Underwood version.") What makes these things even worse is that this means that my friends have never seen the music videos for these songs, and that's just not right. Photograph with the whole Marilyn Monroe thing and the 2-armed drummer? Classic. Then there is the girl who almost shows her boobs in the Home Sweet Home video until it cuts to Tommy Lee's mock expression of shock. Ah, youth and growing up watching MTV non-stop. Anyway, in honor of my young friends, here's a good way to kill a few minutes on a lazy Sunday:
It's very stripped down and mellow, quite different from the first two albums with a whole new vibe. Of course, it's still fantastic and you can really hear Gavin's voice shine through. Plus, it's my favorite album cover of his so far because it reminds me of one of my favorite pictures that I've ever taken of him:
Just a boy and his instrument and his love of music. I love it.
Download These Fo Sho': Glass, Lover Be Strong, Free & Indian Summer
Wow, I seriously have not had the time to update this page in a while. I'm finally getting to blog about a trip I took a couple of weeks ago - let's hope I remember anything that happened. Actually, I have lots of pictures, so that will make up the bulk of the post.
Anyhoo, a couple of weeks ago The Professor and I took a trip to NYC so that I could hit the bar on a Tuesday night and so he could go and explore the city with his camera. When we arrived in the afternoon, The Professor set out on his adventures and I went on a few of my own. I had always wanted to visit a certain establishment during one of my various trips to the city, but I never had the time to make it happen until this trip. Y'all - I went to Mood!
Of course, only those who watch Project Runway will understand the excitement of going to a fabric store, but it was awesome. I came up from the subway stop and stared up at the opening credits shot of the "7th Ave/Fashion Avenue" street signs and got all giddy. Mood itself is crazy. You get pointed into an elevator to head up to the store and have to wait until there are enough people in the elevator before the operator will take you up. Then the door opens and you see the infamous notions wall that Tim Gunn is always standing in front of, warning the contestants about the dwindling time limit. There was also a bulldog in there running around, which I found to be quite odd. But the place is jamming - it's organized by fabrics, with aisles for "silk organza" and "cotton jersey," etc. I actually needed some fabric, so it was fun to carry my bolts around. Oh Mood, you did not disappoint. Well, except for the high prices. I don't know how they make things with the small budgets they get on the show.
Anyway, after my trip to Mood, I headed back to the lower east side and did some shopping around the hotel. My girl Lucy Woodward had recommended some stores to me, so I checked out some of the goods and then bought some AMAZING shoes at a Steve Madden Steven store. I'm SO going to win the shoe-off with Lucy when I see her in April. After some shopping, I made my way over to teany, which is Moby's tea cafe. All of the food is vegan or vegetarian, which is normally a turn-off for me, but I was going there for the tea anyway. However, the menu listed a vegan red velvet cake dessert on there, so I had to see what that was all about. It ended up being really good. You go, Moby! But really, I need to talk about the tea. People, the tea menu is ridiculous. They have 98 different flavors. 98!!! As soon as I saw this one, I knew I had to get it. Who cares if a pot of the tea was $7.50? The leaves were hand-picked by monkeys, people! MONKEYS! And I'm not just saying this because of my monkey bias - that was the best tea I have ever had in my life. I had to buy some to take home and I plan to buy another container when I go back in April. Those monkeys know what they're doing. They don't mess around!
After that, I headed back to the hotel to watch some TV while I got ready to hit the National Underground. I had heard that Tuesdays were going to be the new fun night at the bar because a bunch of Joey and Gavin's friends play, and the rumors turned out to be 100% correct. I had made plans to meet up with my pal Karyn, who had been a few Tuesdays recently and declared them to be quite fun, so she was happy to join me for the evening. I got all duded up in my little shirt and tie:
I got halfway into the bar before I heard, "SOCK GIRLLLLLL!!!" It was my pal Sasha, who I decided to surprise this time and not tell him that I was coming in advance. He was happy to see me as always, and the feeling was mutual:
He's so much fun.
I got there a little before the band started so I got to catch up with some folks who work there. They were both off for the night, but were there for the bands. Sadly, Joey was in Florida, so it was my first trip to the bar without Joey being there, which was too bad since he always makes me laugh. Up first on the stage were Chris Barron & The Time Bandits, who are doing a month-long "Exile on Houston" gig at the bar on Tuesdays. For those who don't recognize the name, Chris Barron is the lead singer from the Spin Doctors. I've met him at the bar a few times before, but this was the first time that I got to see his band play and they were really good.
It's a fun atmosphere because the guys in the band are just there to play and have a good time. They're all kind of musician's musicians so they enjoy it as much as the crowd does, which makes it that much more fun to watch. So much fun for some people that they creep into your picture out of nowhere and kiss you on the cheek:
I still have no idea who that guy is, but he told me that I was "dead sexy," so he is clearly my new best friend. After Chris's set was over, the crowd thinned and we could relax more and talk to everybody. Karyn knows most of the guys who were playing that night, so we got to chat with everybody between sets. Speaking of Karyn, here we are:
And here are some pictures of us hanging with the boys:
I loved him.
With Sasha and Travis DeGraw, the bar manager.
Kris (Man With a Van), Matty and Andy Clayburn.
Love the munching on the Underground hot dogs.
It was boot night at the Underground.
Here we are with Jill, my favorite NU bartender. Karyn brought her black wig so we could be the Ravenheads again, and Jill completed our trio quite nicely. We're totally starting a Ravenhead Gang. Looking to join the gang? The Professor, who made a late-night appearance at the bar and tried his best to join the gang, but just ended up looking like comic-strip character Nancy:
He does much better without the wig:
Speaking of The Professor, we now interrupt this entry to bring you some of the cool pictures that he took while he was off exploring Brooklyn and other places. I got him this little box-head guy for Valentine's Day, and he just makes such an adorable little subject:
Awww. Okay, back to the bar, where in what I guess has now become tradition, Sasha and I had to pose for a licking picture:
Soon after that, Andy Clayburn took the stage and he was really good. Andy usually plays guitar in Joey's band, so it was cool to see him doing his solo thing. The guy playing piano with him was sick on the keys and various people jumped in and did songs with him throughout the night, including Kris, Sasha, and Chris Barron. It was just like sitting around and having a jam session with your pals, singing songs like You've Got To Have Friends - I loved every minute of it.
Man, what a fun night.
Even though it was dark in there, I did grab a little bit of video footage. The first part is from Chris Barron's set - he busted out three Spin Doctors songs at the end, and the second part is Andy getting mellow:
Happily, the next time I'm going to be in NYC is in a few weeks and it falls on a Tuesday, so I'm going to have to stop by the bar at some point because that was some crazy fun.
The next morning, The Professor and I met up for coffee with my internet friend Rich, who runs Orangutan Outreach, the charity that I want to give all of my money to. That's where I adopted my "daughter" Kesi, who is growing up to be quite the orangutan. She had a cameo on Orangutan Island a couple of weeks ago and I was yelling at the TV, "that's my daughter!" I try my best to get as many people as I can to watch the show and give to the cause because the money all goes to the rescue center for the orphan orangutans in Borneo. Rich was lucky enough to go and visit the center (for the third time - I am SO jealous) in December, and his pictures from the trip are AMAZING. It was really great to finally meet up with him and chat - he had some great stories and really interesting info about all kinds of things. The Professor was loving hearing about the advances being made in terms of the possibility of creating rainforests and climate change and whatnot. That stuff was a little out of my depth, but it was fascinating to hear about. Rich invited us back to his office, where I picked up my new friend Harlan:
I also got a book about the creator of the center, which I have been passing around work. It was all really wonderful, so I thank Rich for taking the time out of his busy day to meet up with us. You rock, Rich!
After that, we finally headed home, but not before making a stop along the way at our favorite place, where I found Paul's new car:
I NEED a Duchessmobile in my life. I also found out this time that the Duchess restaurants are only located in Connecticut, which saddens me. Now everyone has to book a trip to good ol' CT so you can go to a fast food place and order chicken parmesan. Seriously.
So thus ends another NYC adventure and another fantastic time. I do love that city and that bar. Thanks to Karyn and Rich for meeting up with me, and to all of the musicians - I'll see you in a few weeks. And next time? Oh lord. I'll be there with Paul, David, Lucy and Joe - THIS ought to be interesting. Stay tuned!
But as Paul and I proved recently, you still can't take us anywhere. But we'll get to that.
First - sorry I am so late with these posts. There have been Things to update about, but there has not been Time. My bad. The Idol thoughts and NYC adventures will be coming, but first, let's do this one.
Anyhoodle - Paul and I recently attended a charity event to benefit the American Heart Association's Wear Red campaign for heart health awareness for women. We were asked to dress semi-formal and to try to wear something red, even if it was just an accessory (Check us out on the red carpet!) . The event was sponsored by our local country music station and it featured 4 acoustic sets by country singers Dean Brody, Jason Michael Carroll, Jamie O'Neal and Jessica Andrews. I wasn't familiar with the guys, but I love both of those ladies so we decided to get ourselves some tickets. The tickets for the concert itself were only $9.85, but they were also offering a pre-show VIP reception for $35 a ticket with free champagne and appetizers as well as meet-and-greets with all of the singers. All of the proceeds were going to the charity, and you KNOW Paul and I love to roll VIP, so we were so in for that reception. Yay, classy Pam and Paul:
As soon as we got there, Paul headed straight for the bar, but moments later the singers all came into the room. Most of the guests hadn't arrived yet, so Paul and I made a beeline over to the two ladies so I could meet them and then we could focus on the free champagne and eats. We ended up second in line to meet Jamie O'Neal and if you guys have never heard her song There Is No Arizona, you should give it a listen. It was her first single and made me a fan instantly. Anyway, she was nice and looked very much like a country singer:
After that, we headed over to see Jessica, who ranks as one of my favorite country singers. She hasn't had an album in quite some time, so I was excited to hear that one should be released this summer. Some of you may know her from Who I Am, which was her big hit, among a number of others. (Sing it with me now, country fans: "I am Rosemary's granddaughter....") Pop culture people may know her from the song Show Me Heaven, which was on one of the Dawson's Creek soundtracks. In any case, she was super-cute and really nice and tore it up during the concert. Here we are with Miss Andrews:
After that, the room started to fill and Paul and I decided to kick back and enjoy the free champagne and the FANTASTIC people watching. We especially enjoyed this gentleman's tapestry vest/tie combo:
There were some hot messes there, especially this older couple who decided to stand right near me and Paul and start dry humping against the wall. Paul swears he was trying to eat her face off. It was disgusting. Throughout all of this, Paul and I were also watching that Jason Michael Carroll character because he was a quite fascinating fellow. He looked quite grungy and not really country. Also? He looked shady. That's when I announced to Paul, "Well, now we have to go have our picture taken with him because he looks like such a creep." Paul agreed so we got in line and decided to introduce ourselves as Bart and Stella. We also both secretly threw up the pointers just as the photo was about to be taken:
After the picture, he chatted us up while he was signing an autograph and he was SUPER nice and really cool. Paul and I then felt bad for being assholes for about 15 seconds, but it passed. Since we waited in line for him, we decided to just go and meet the other guy as well. This decision also may have had something to do with the fact that Dean Brody is hot as HELL, people. You can't tell it from the picture we got with him, but this guy has got ice blue eyes, dark hair and a kickass body. Mama liked. Here he is from a promo shot I found:
Mmmm.... And here we are with him:
As with the other folks, he was also really nice, especially when he stopped mid-autograph and asked if it was okay that he was making it out to both of us. I said, "That's fine, it's going to be under my pillow tonight anyway." Paul's response? A horrified, "You're a creep." Dean Brody's response? A goofy, "Awesome." Awesome, indeed. Paul was still reeling from me petting the head of the Marine who was standing in front of us in line anyway. What was I to do? It was so fuzzy and inviting!
After the reception, we made our way to the room where the concert was going to be, where I just chilled:
And Paul went straight to the place where he would be found multiple times throughout the night:
We watched both of the ladies perform and a little bit of Dean Brody's set, but our feet hurt and we were hungry so we went off in search of food during Jason's set. On our way back, we noticed some fun things around the hotel where the event was being held and thought they would make perfect props for an impromptu photo shoot. Of course, as with us, things started off relatively normal:
...but then veered very quickly into inappropriate:
You can see how classy we are in the rest of the photo shoot as well as a new Paul & Pam Show from the event after the jump!
People, I still don't know what to think of this a week after hearing about it. Tinted Windows is a new band formed by James Iha from the Smashing Pumpkins and it also has someone from Cheap Trick, someone from Fountains of Wayne, and TAYLOR HANSON as the lead singer. I am so confused. Now there is this video teaser:
Taylor is dressing for me, but I still don't know what to make of all of this. What say you?
Oh, Paul. Those were his words up there as we stood in line for an autograph signing after a mini-concert by Melinda Doolittle at a local casino last weekend. Of course, Paul was saying this as he wiped the sweat that was pouring off of his face. I reminded him that he had touched Carrie's hand 4 times at her concert, but he replied with, "Yes, but I've never spoken to one before." Then he continued to sweat and wipe as we got closer in the line. It was hilarious. After we met Melinda and had pictures taken, his hands were shaking. Aww, Paul.
And can I just say how incredibly nice Miss Doolittle is? She's one of my all-time favorite Idol contestants and she was as gracious and sweet as she was on the show. Also? That girl can SANG. Crazy good. Her album comes out today, but we were able to buy copies at the event on Saturday. It's an old-school R&B throwback album and you all need to go and listen to Dust My Broom right now. Anyway, Melinda sang 5 songs off of the album and then closed with one of her favorites from Idol, and it was the song that Paul was hoping for the whole day, I'm a Woman. She sang the roof off of the place, y'all. Here's a clip I grabbed:
I thought Paul was going to pee himself with all of the growling she did. We waited over an hour in line for the autographs, but Melinda said she was going to stay until every last person got something signed and a picture. We were happy to get both:
After that, Paul and I were STARVING so we headed to this interesting-looking place that we saw off the highway on our way there called Stuckeys. It was attached to a gas station so we knew it had to be classy. However, when we arrived there with our stomachs growling like no other, we found that Stuckeys was actually a souvenir shop with Roy Rogers and Sbarro counters inside. With the horns of disappointment wah-waahing in our heads, we jumped back into the car and checked my GPS for the closest restaurant that sounded good. We found one right down the street called Brick Oven, so we headed over for what we imagined to be some tasty pizza.
Yeah...not so much.
Turns out The Brick Oven was a slightly shady-looking family restaurant. As soon as we saw the outside, we decided that we had to eat there. From the moment we walked inside, Paul and I had the giggles the whole time. First, our waitress brought over a dry-erase posterboard with the specials on it and leaned it against the wall across from our table. She left it there until the next party arrived and then she walked it over to them. Second, we were treated to some dining music courtesy of a boombox straight out of Breakin'. Then there was the soup that Paul got that he described as "a bunch of Progresso soups just thrown together."
After that, we noticed a drink menu on the table so Paul ordered a glass of wine. What arrived at the table was one of those single person bottles of wine accompanied by the smallest wine glass in the history of the world. Did I mention how dusty and dirty the bottom of the stem was? That was probably what put us over the edge into the church giggles.
Check out that boombox over Paul's shoulder. The Brick Oven was magic. Of course, we'll be bringing everyone back there but maybe for breakfast next time since I paid $11.95 for chicken parmesan which was clearly made with those frozen chicken patties and came with pasta and Prego sauce. I can buy that at the supermarket for half the price. Hopefully when we go back, the same patrons won't be there since Paul let a real big one rip just as we were walking out the door. Such class. Hopefully we can convince someone to order the "calves liver and onions" next time. Keep those fingers crossed!
We managed to take some footage at the restaurant during this week's Paul & Pam show and it includes a shot of the specials board as well as some footage from the casino and outside of Stuckeys. You can witness it all right here:
You know, I don't know why I rarely talk about Idol here, because clearly I watch every episode and am not ashamed - so this season, I'm going to talk about it more because I always have Things To Say. I even added a new category for it because I am determined. Anyhoo, here's some random thoughts I had after watching last night's auditions:
- I like the tattooed Barracuda Hughes girl and all, but not enough to look at those saucer earrings all season. I...no.
- Dear Alex Wagner-Trugman, he of the singing-in-the-closet-and-getting-sick-from-the-mold fame: Marry me.
- I would like to be in a profession with a fun name like "roughneck." Really. Why have I not heard of this as a career choice before? Anyhoo, if the roughneck gets through to a voting round, I have to throw one his way just because of the fact that he auditioned with the oft-forgotten gem, Thank You by Boyz II Men. I LOVE that song. So Roughneck, you will have a vote from me, just like I promised to anyone who sang America on Neil Diamond night last year. It really is that easy to please me.
- I assume we'll be seeing a lot more of the blind guy as the season goes on. And you may be seeing more of him then you want to because I will totally and shamelessly vote for him if he keeps bringing that SUPER HOT handler/brother on stage every week. Holy crap, you guys. Watch the video on that link again and check him out at the end. Lordy, lordy. Am I right, Ryan? High five! Oh, wait...awkward.
Last Friday David and I headed to Hartford to go see the DeGraw boys in concert. It's not often that Joey opens for Gavin, so the double feature was a special treat for me. Since Hartford is about a two hour drive, we decided to book a hotel room because I knew I wouldn't feel like driving home if we were out late, which I planned to be. The rates were good at most of the hotels, so we just grabbed a room at a Days Inn that was about a mile away from the venue. Y'all - now I know why the rates were so cheap. David and I spent most of the night saying to each other, "We're going to die in Hartford tonight."
For those who have never been to Connecticut, it is generally a really pretty and nice state. Hartford, however, is disgusting. There's really no other way to put it. It's nasty. The last time I was in Hartford, I ended up having to get a tetanus shot a few days later. Seriously. (I had cut my foot somewhere on the filthy streets of Hartford.) Anyway, Connecticut traffic can get a little clogged in the late afternoon, so David and I decided to both take the afternoon off from work and head down to the city early to avoid any of that mess. Surely we could find all kinds of things to do in the city, right? Eh, not so much. Sure, we could have gone shopping for CAT BOOTS:
WTF??? Can you get tabby boots? I am intrigued by the dingo boots, but cat boots????
Creeps.
Anyway, in lieu of cat boot shopping, we decided to just drive around the city and see where that took us. It...was scary. We almost ran over the same rabid-looking chihuahua TWICE, and the rest of the time we bemoaned the fact that our wills weren't ready yet, which was a shame because we were pretty sure we were going to die. Then we went to McDonald's for dinner and I was about to use the restroom until I saw a sketchy-looking woman wandering around the whole restaurant openly scratching her hoo-ha through her filthy sweatpants. She was just scratching that thing for days. Then she headed into the bathroom, so that was enough for me in terms of any need to use that bathroom EVER. Instead, we headed next door to the only other happening place around, VIP. VIP, of course, stands for Very Intimate Pleasures. I assumed it was a sex shop, while David thought it was a strip club, which led to both of us wondering what we would do if it were a strip club.
DAVID: How do titty bars work? Do they just come up to you?
PAM: I don't know, I've never been to one! What happens in the movies?
Because clearly, everything you see in the movies is totally true to life. Anyway, lucky for us I was right and VIP ended up being a sex shop, and it was gigantic. We wandered around for a while and then headed back to the hotel, where I noticed an odd looking stain on the rug in our room:
Is that a face? And is it made out of blood? What is that? Does he know Bedface? And still, and most importantly, IS THAT BLOOD??
Instead of pondering the horrors that could have taken place in our room, we busied ourselves getting ready and, doing things like taking a time out in the random chair in the corner:
Reading The Bible:
Wrapping a towel on your head and singing into the hair dryer:
And building pillow forts:
You know, the usual things you do to get ready. We then headed out to the show, and all of the thoughts of impending death drifted away as soon as I the first of the DeGraws hit the stage. Joey opened the show, sounding terrific yet sporting a new Freddie Mercury-inspired mustache. He had the mustache when I saw him at the bar a couple of weeks ago, but I just figured it was a fluke. Apparently, not. So now Joey looks a little like a child molester:
Okay, maybe he looks more than a little like one.
Eh, no matter, because he put on a great show. Here's a clip from my favorite Joey song:
After Joey's set, there was the little matter during intermission of some drunk girls who wandered off trying to reclaim their spots in the crowd near me, but people had taken them. This prompted one drunk girl to start pushing up against the new people that were standing there, trying to get them to move. It ended with drunk girl being removed by security and having to stand in the back for the concert, but there was a brief moment in the middle where I turned into a completely different person when one of her drunken pushes sent two people flying into me and led to me knocking into other people. I may have shoved the girl hard and yelled something along the lines of, "STOP IT, YOU STUPID BITCH!!!" That may have happened and David may have loved every minute of it. Moral of the story: don't mess with me while I am waiting for Gavin to take the stage. Speaking of which, shortly thereafter, he did take the stage, and all was right in the world again:
By the way, this was my first night using my new fancy camera and I love it to death. Especially when it captures Gavin shooting at me:
I love that.
The sound is also better in the videos - here's a clip from a non-album track that I have a live version of and love, but have never seen Gavin perform, so I was quite excited when he did. I mean, how can you not love a good ol' fashioned drinking song?
Here's a couple more of my favorite shots from that night:
And a montage of clips from a bunch of songs, including my favorite clip at about the 1:53 mark when Gavin is singing Proud Mary and shaking his ass. When he starts doing the train-rolling arm motions at 2:35? Pure bliss for me:
Oh, Gavin - how I have missed your shows. Now I'm going to be in withdrawal since there aren't any coming up anytime soon. But hey, at least I have lived to see the next one since David and I weren't so sure about that when we returned to the hotel to crash and were met with the soothing and dulcet tones of people drag racing outside.
PAM: What is going on right now?
DAVID: Are we going to die?
PAM: Who drag races anymore?
DAVID: People in Hartford since there's nothing else to do besides go to VIP and shop for cat boots.
PAM: What is this, Tokyo Drift? Are they Days Inn Drifting?
DAVID: Help!
Ah, but we made it and were quite happy to make our way into the nicer parts of Connecticut the next day, where there were homemade chocolate shops and such. Plus, I'd still go to Hartford any day to see a great concert like that. Double DeGraws makes everything better, even Days Inn Drifting.
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