MUSIC, BOOKS, MOVIES...and books about music...and movies about books...yea and then there's movies about music...you get the general idea, yes??? Also, discovering "new to me" bands and turning other people on to them!!
TATS...I love mine and I love to check out those on other people, for both the artwork and the stories behind them.
SPEAKING of tattoos, are ya craving new (or maybe first time) ink? Gonna be in the OC area??
CHECK out Lenny at "Artistic Freedom Tattoo" (he's in the #1 spot on my Top 40 and the shop is right next to him at #2). Looking for custom work?? He's the BEST around. Give him an idea and in no time he'll have top-notch original artwork for you to choose from. He can freehand sketch like a mofo, almost as if he can see what you see in your head. Not afraid to use color, he will mix and modify them just for you. He's got a light, yet solid, touch with the gun. Don't just take my word for it...go see it for yourself!!
BOARD Games, cards and Vegas, Baby, Vegas!!!
ANIMALS...if I only had the money, energy and resources to have a HUGE menagerie...
Music
NOT a lot of newer stuff out there that rocks my socks...gimme the REAL punk, r&b, powerpop and powermetal, not this washed out shite that goes round nowadays...but ya know...there's always exceptions...so keep your eyes peeled for updates. One artist that has been around for a while but is high up on my radar screen is Keith Urban. Easy on the ears AND mos' def, on the eyes as well...what more can a pixie ask for??? He has a new album coming out on March 31st, Defying Gravity.
More music that knocks me out? OK, Elvis, LMFP, Beatles, Stones, Clapton, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, Otis Redding, Laura Nyro, Ronnie Spector, Pearl Jam, STP, Pink, Mary J. Blige, Queen Latifah, U2, the Clash, Billy Idol, the Ramones, Todd Rundgren, Cheap Trick, AC/DC, the Who/Pete Townshend, Hendrix, Los Lonely Boys, Neil Young, Dave Mason, Mike Finnigan, Jim Krueger, Les Dudek, DangerDanger, Cinderella, Prince, X, CH 3, Social D, TSOL, Motochrist, The Donnas, Luscious Jackson, Lita Ford, The Pretenders, Tom Petty, R.E.M., The Wildhearts, da Scorps, Michael Sweet, Buddy Holly, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Dukes, Marshall Crenshaw, The Smithereens, Don Dixon, Hanson, The Point, The Last, The Panic Channel, Aerosmith, LA Guns, Badlands, Roxy Music, The Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, the Stray Cats, EC, Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, Squeeze, Tenacious D, Foo Fighters, the Misfits, Lou Reed, Mike Watt, Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, Annie Lennox, David Jo/NY Dolls, Richard Hell, Blondie, Television, Bowie, TRex, Kraut, Black Flag, XTC, The Damned, 999, Giant Sand, the Screamin' Sirens, Green Day, Dead Milkmen, Brenton Wood, Bob Marley, Sam Cooke, BOC, The Masticators, English Beat/General Public, Madness, The Corrs, Van Morrison, Boz Scaggs, Steve Miller, Rex Manning...
AS long as this list may be, I'm sure there are artists I've forgotten to include. Keep checking back as I update this section on a regular basis.
Movies
ENCHANTED, Stardust, Clerks II, Pulp Fiction, Looking For Richard, Pirates of the Carribean (all three), Laurel Canyon, Grace of my Heart, School of Rock, Almost Famous, Spinal Tap, Help, A Hard Day's Night, The Commitments, Empire Records, RnR High School, Airheads, The Decline of Western Civilization pts. 1 and 2, Quadrophenia, The Kids are alright, Rock My World, Long Kiss Goodbye, Pleasantville, EVERYTHING Kevin Smith (even the little bits he does for the Leno show!!), Buckaroo Banzai, 3,000 Miles to Graceland, Heartbreak Hotel, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Adam Sandler movies, Porn (the good, the bad and yes, even the bondage!), Thirteen, Grind, Monty Python (all), To Kill A Mockingbird, Practical Magic, the Shreks, On The Town, Grosse Point Blank, Dazed and Confused, Forget Paris, Shawshank Redemption, Door To Door, Lilo and Stitch, 3 Wishes, Foxes, Finding Nemo, Bridget Jones' Diary and Beyond the Edge of Reason, EverAfter, Freaky Friday (both versions), Don Juan deMarco, SharkTales, The Godfather Trilogy, GoodFellas, My Blue Heaven, Casino, Made, Swingers, Suicide Kings, I Am Sam, The Fifth Element, Second Hand Lions, Contact, When Harry Met Sally, The Green Mile, Wedding Bell Blues...as you can see I prefer watching upbeat flicks.
EVERY so often something different will catch my eye. If you have been touched, one way or another, by cancer, I hope you'll take a moment to check this out:
I confess...I dig Bones, Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy so much that I even watch the reruns.
I am also a total foodie so most of the time you'll find The Food Network playing on the front room TV. Guy Fieri is one of my faves, so I catch everything he does, especially Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Ham On The Street is always good fun...Ace of Cakes totally rocks!!! Love Rachael Ray's shows..her traveling shows are almost as fun to watch as the Triple D's. If TFN ever offered a reality show revolving around the average-non-pro-stay-at-home cook, you can bet I'd be first in line to sign up.
OTHER shows that I enjoy include My Name Is Earl, A.I., Dinner For Five, Last Comic Standing, Henry's Film Corner, The Henry Rollins Show, Family Guy and Hell's Kitchen (and various other Gordon Ramsay programs).
DOES this just have to be current stuff?? If not, then add: Freaks and Geeks, Square Pegs, Sex and the City, Northern Exposure, My So-Called Life, Quantum Leap (which is weird cuz I'm not a sci-fi fan), QAF, Six Feet Under and last but not least the last 6 episodes of the Brady Bunch...LOVE dat Cousin Oliver dude...he's the rockin'est!!!
Books
MYSTERIES and thrillers/crime novels, bios, Hererotica, cereal boxes...hell, when I'm desparate enough, I'll read just about anything!
FAVORITE repeat readings include everything by each of these authors: George Tabb, Susan Isaacs, John Irving, JK Rowlings, Tom Wolfe, Janet Evanovich, Stuart Woods, Jonathon Kellerman, Faye Kellerman, Sarah Strohmeyer, Hunter S. Thompson and Diane Mott Davidson.
You are "Playing Right Field: A Jew Grows In Greenwich" by George Tabb.
GOTTA dig those that can make me think and/or laugh...does anybody remember laughter???
BROTHER Sam (R.I.P.), Bill Hicks (ditto)and Bernie Mac (ditto redux)...you all left us too soon. AS for Mr. Richard Pryor, thank you for the talent you shared with us and the many comedians your vision helped shape.
ADDITIONAL faves include Eddie Izzard, Patton Oswalt, Jay Mohr, Dana Carvey, Howie Mandel, Dane Cook, Lewis Black, Margaret Cho, Adam Hunter, Chris Rock, Denis Leary, Robin Williams, Gabriel Iglesias, Sarah Silverman, Elaine Boosler, Paul Rodriguez, Dom Irrera, Sandra Bernhard, Damon Wayons, Margaret Smith, D.L. Hughley, Colin Quinn, George Lopez, Ellen Degeneres, Monty Python (together, apart, doesn't matter), Whoopi, Joey Bishop (yea, you read that right!!), Firesign Theatre...and many, many more.
I would love to adopt both Bob Costas and Henry Rollins...just to hear what they have to say at any given time on any given subject.
LASTLY, but by no means the least, my amazing nieces. They are all incredibly brave and beautiful young women, each in their own right. I totally dig that they can see that in each other and wish that someday they will recognize it in themselves as well. My love for them gets stronger with every passing day.
FIRST and foremost, I am a New Yorker. Transplanted at an early age, it is what I will be forever in my heart and soul. The hub jokes that surely by now I'm a Californian, perhaps by infusion, having lived here so long. Even as he laughs about it he knows that I will always be a girl from Queens and proud of it.
WORKED in the music industry for over a decade wearing many hats from Artist Development to (rock music) Video Goddess...at mom n pop and corporate level music retailers, local radio (the world famous KROQ, where, among other things I did voice-overs for the Vagisil commercials because none of the female on-air jocks would do it, no matter how much they got paid!!), importing/exporting, and record labels big and small. I've worked with Pop bands, Punk bands, Christian Rock, Glam, Heavy/Speed/Death Metal, Country, OSTs and jazz. I think the only thing I haven't work with is classical music.
GOT sick...Diagnosed with CFS (Chronic Fatique Syndrome) a.k.a. CFIDS (Chronic Fatique and Immunological Dysfunction) and/or CIND, (Chronic Immunological and Neurological Dysfunction), had to quit working. Several years later, I was cross-diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. It almost got the better of me...then I got my first home computer. I found out that there were hundreds of thousands of people around the world that had the same kinda stuff that I have. Hooked up with some compadres...we put together a non-profit organization spreading information about CIND. My original dx of CFS was back in March, 1988. Fast forward twenty plus years to May of 2009. I saw a late night commercial that said, in part, if you have been diagnosed with CFS you can go to the CDC (Centers For Diease Control)website for further information. Thousands of people have worked so hard to get that "official" recognition while for more than two decades the CDC said it was "all in your head". I cried when I saw that ad.
EVEN today though, music continues to be a driving force for me. In fact, sometimes it's my only sanity and the one thing that keeps me passing those open windows! I have finally accomplished my long-time dream of becoming a published writer. Now I combine my love of music, books and film with my passion for writing. Life is good!
BESIDES that, I concentrate on my family and friends. I'm married with 2 kids (all with 4 paws and a tail) and they have 2 goldfish for pets. Eeerrr, that is to say, the "kids" have the paws/tails...last time I looked the hub wasn't equipped with either!! UPDATE...one of the fishies took a ride on the Commode Express and I don't think he'll be making a return trip back to us.
SPECIAL NOTE to all MyPals: Love, love, LOVE all the cool and groovin' animations and holiday greetings...and thanks for all that put their creativity to use that way, then sharing it with me. That being said, I'm trying to keep things timely here...and once a holiday has passed, 99% of them will be deleted...just doin' my part to keep the bandwidth usage down while at the same time, making it easier for my pals that still use dial-up to access the web to view my profile as quickly as possible.
THANK YOU for reading this far and I hope I passed the audition!
Who I'd like to meet:
SINCE I like doing things assbackwards, let me say who I DON'T wanna meet, either here or in person: Poseurassholes, especially those that think that getting close to me will get them upcloseandpersonal with my "famous" friends.
OH...take a moment or two to send me a brief note BEFORE you send an add request: LUBE ME UP FIRST, ya know??? Hate to be that way about it now...but am NOT here for the numbers but for the groove. And if you don't have time to get a little personal before asking to be added to my friends list, then there's no room at the inn for ya...all requests WITHOUT some sort of introductory hi-bye-or-kiss-my-ass email are automatically marked as spam and deleted.
WHO I'd cream over if we got to face-to-face it??? Johhny Depp, the big E, Macca, John Lennon, Eddie Izzard, Kevin Smith and the ViewAskew crew, LMFP, Buddy Holly, Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, Derek Jeter...
TO Joey, Sam and Ray, what I wouldn't do to see your smiling faces even one more time...miss you much!!!!
I was wondering if you are on Facebook too. MySpace is getting pretty dead and everyone seems to be over there now. I still check in with MySpace, but not as often as I had been.
Well, I was supposed to be in New York last week as that was convention time. But my 30 year high school reunion was this past weekend and I had also organized a benefit concert for the school. So instead of NY I had to stay back this time. We played live on the radio Friday afternoon then a show that night. We played the next day at my reunion as well. I had a dozen of my friends who've I'd either signed or promoted before who come from all different bands. I brought 'em altogether and we jammed as a band.
This is a recording of one of the songs we played live on KNAC last Friday. This is me and my good friend Joshua Perahia both on guitars, my music partner Dana Hayes ( aka Dana Perry) on vocals, and award winning producer/percussionist Dino Maddalone on congas. I will post another tomorrow that I play on with my friend from Italy, Marco Mariani sharing guitar duties with me along with Dana and Dino (a cover of a Heart song that only appears on a live album! They never recorded it in the studio)
Hey there, was trying to give ya a birthday call yesterday but both lines were busy every time I tried...hope everything is okay...and of course that you had a great weekend...love ya, miss ya much! xoxoxo
I may be older, but I ain’t dead yet! I still rock!
Here’s a clip of me and my friends playing at my High School’s 30 year Pre-Reunion show 2 nights ago. I got many of my musician friends together booked a club, and we jammed for a good hour and a half or so.. That’s me on the left playing an amplified acoustic guitar. The gal singing is a friend of over 30 years and my music partner, Dana Hayes (Dana Perry when we were teens). This is an original song by my friend Joshua Perahia. That’s him on lead guitar and Jerry Gabriel is the male singer (he sings this song on Joshua’s last album). I had 13 musicians play along side Dana and me that night, coming in and ouit depending on the song.
A true friend knows your weaknesses but shows you your
strengths; feels your fears but fortifies your faith; sees your anxieties but
frees your spirit; recognizes your disabilities but emphasizes your
possibilities.
