Ouija Boards & Pompadours

I’ve always thought of myself as a bit of a skeptic, so maybe ghosts, spirits, unsettled energy of the dead etc. exist but has it ever been proven?
I guess I don’t really know what to believe even after the experience that I had the other night with just a slab of cardboard, a shot glass, and six other folks. I’m not sure where the idea originated but my friend Dylan and I had decided that we were going to make a Ouija Board in order to see if the house that he lives in is haunted.
The house was built in 1908 for a General and was later used as a whorehouse of sorts, so one would have to assume that at least a hand full of people have died in that house in the past 99 years right? Well we were bound and determined to find out, I mean who needs historical records and such when you can just contact the old tenants yourself, even the dead ones.
Now a proper, I guess what would be called a seance, should never have too many people because you don’t want to scare the invisible roommates away. There are a few other rules that must be followed for example the table that the Ouija Board is on must be wood, all jewelry must be removed from the participants hands, there can be no more than two sources of light in the room and candles are preferable, you must have one person ready with a pen and paper to record the letters as the spirit spells words out, and most importantly everyone participating has to come to the experience with a clear, positive, and open mind, bringing negativity to the table will only bring negative spirits, you get back what you put out so be nice and respectful.
As for your main tools; homemade Ouija Boards are always better than the Milton Bradley version, all you need is a piece of cardboard with the alphabet, 0-9, yes, no, and goodbye written on it and be sure that the letters are big enough for the shot glass which will act as the planchette to cover only one letter at a time so it’s easier to read. And yes a shot glass or other glass item with a see through bottom on it will work. Once you have these things you’re ready, oh a bottle of wine is always nice too, at least we thought so.
Now my friend Bari and I had done this together once before and the thing was sliding all over the board as fast as it possibly could. Bari and I are certain that we in some way or another were birthed from the same womb, we’re yin and yang and that is the best combo for Ouija Boarding so we were first up. We began by holding hands (left over right) and saying a quick prayer just for good measure, and you always end the Ouija Boarding time with a quick prayer as well just to clear the air. Oh, and also it’s important to remember that if the spirit that is talking to you becomes mean or scary you have to put the glass you’re using straight to “goodbye” to avoid anything scary or unwanted. Ok, so yes Bari and I began and it took a bit for it to move until it just started rocking all over the place and telling us things about our friend Dylan who was sitting in the room with us. Everyone got a stab at it and everyone did have something happen. At one point when Bari and I were Boarding it told me that my Grandma was ill, which I was aware of, and told me that she loved me and it even gave me her initials which no one in the room knew. I ended up having to call my Grandma after that to make sure that she was alright. Crazy huh? There’s more!
The last time Bari and I went we “contacted” a woman named Ana who said that she had lived in the house in 1908 and occupied the room that Dylan now lived in. She said that she liked the music that Dylan’s band made and that she was going to watch over him while he was on tour which he leaves for in two or so weeks. At one point we tried to ask her her last name and all we kept getting was M-C-M. What’s scary is that the next day Dylan called his landlord to get the real dish on who lived there and it turns out that in 1908 when the house was built there was an Ana McMillan that lived there. Holy buckets!
The overall night was not at all scary which surprised me, in fact we ended the evening with a group field trip to Village Wok for a little late night grub and we even got to take the 15 passenger band that Dylan’s band the Corpse Show Creeps call home while on the road. (www.myspace.com/corpseshowcreeps)
It looked a little bit like this:



Someone very important to me and who I trust very much once said that Ouija Boards do work but only because the energy that our body exudes moves the mystifying oracle (shot glass). That seems like a more logical explanation to me but it’s fun to play along with the whole spooks thing sometimes and who really knows right? It could be all true, or an explanation closer to the truth could be that we try to find meaning in any words, letters, or numbers that we possibly can.
Try it yourself:


Say you got the letters and numbers in this order: A, L, W, Y, Z, 0, 2

Can you find meaning in this? Perhaps, “always, 2002?” Maybe in 2002 you were in a relationship with someone that you’re still in love with or it’s possible that this was the year that you met your sweetie or even the person you married. Could it be that someone close to you passed away in 2002? Any significant change that occurred in 2002 would be magnified a billion times in order to fit.
So that’s my take on the whole Ouija Board business, prove me wrong, make a believer out of me, until then I’ll remain a skeptic and all the believers will remain kooks to me.
Ouija Boards were introduced to America in 1890 as a novelty item, a board game and somehow we’ve managed to morph a game into reality. Even popular bands have placed Ouija Boards in high regards for example Cheap Trick claims that they asked a Ouija Board what their bands should be called and it said “CHEAP TRICK”.
Idiot Ouija Board! Uh Na Na Na Na!

The Science Fair Ain't Got Shit on B.R.A.M.: Once Upon a Pocket Protector

Have you ever been seduced by someone and felt as though there was nothing that you could possibly do to say no?
Okay, now have you heard the band B.R.A.M. from Los Angeles? This bands music is positively intoxicating, you’ll feel it in every bone in your body. B.R.A.M. is comprised of members from several other bands that would be recognizable to the general music listener, for example the keyboard player plays with bands such as Mike Doughty as well. The music is fantastic and now you know why.
They haven’t quite recorded a full length record yet and from what I understand the only place their music can be found is on myspace (www.myspace.com/wearebram), AND you can download all four songs!
The song ‘1 Last Dance’, caught me off guard a bit, the first time I listened to it I was completely enthralled by the smart sounding synth and then I had to stop and play the song again. The second time around I realized that I felt like I was being seduced by a character from ‘Revenge of the Nerds’, the only difference between how the movie ends and how the song ends is that by the end of the song I was ready to let that nerd hit second base with me. It’s such a sexy song and the lead singer, Bram’s voice gives this little ditty a dainty and thoughtful yet hormone driven quality at the same time.
The tune that I immediately fell in love with was ‘Messages’, it has some of the same qualities as ‘1 Last Dance’, but different almost more mature and the keys really make the song special and force you to bob your head against your will.
I think that the moral of the story is that this is a band that you’ll have to be careful of, it’s one that I think could turn out as a heartthrobesque band based on my knowledge of the members and the blatant yet ever so soft sexuality of each song. Although I have yet to see the band live it seems that there isn’t a way in hell it wouldn’t be any less than an amazing show. They don’t play out nearly as much as they should but if ever in the L.A. area definitely check them out.
www.myspace.com/wearebram

R.I.P. James Brown: 1933-2006

Today is a sad day indeed...
This night will be a somber night of drinking and jukeboxing...
James Brown, the dynamic, pompadoured "Godfather of Soul," whose rasping vocals and revolutionary rhythms made him a founder of rap, funk and disco as well, died early Monday, his agent said. He was 73.

Brown was hospitalized with pneumonia at Emory Crawford Long Hospital on Sunday and died around 1:45 a.m. Monday, said his agent, Frank Copsidas of Intrigue Music. Longtime friend Charles Bobbit was by his side, he said.

Copsidas said Brown's family was being notified of his death and that the cause was still uncertain. "We really don't know at this point what he died of," he said.

Along with Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan and a handful of others, Brown was one of the major musical influences of the past 50 years. At least one generation idolized him, and sometimes openly copied him...

His rapid-footed dancing inspired Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson among others. Songs such as David Bowie's "Fame," Prince's "Kiss," George Clinton's "Atomic Dog" and Sly and the Family Stone's "Sing a Simple Song" were clearly based on Brown's rhythms and vocal style.

The Jets= Tigercity: Slide with me, I wanna move your body.

This past year Brooklyn has shat out about a billion amazing bands, at this point you’d think that the area would be all dried up but no, Tigercity has been birthed. Tigercity is yet another band from the wonderous Brooklyn, NY area. Now from what I know they came from Massachusetts and then moved to New York, maybe there’s something in the air there. You move there as an at best mediocre musician and song writer only to realize that the second you touch down on the Brooklyn soil you’re a genius!
Upon the first listen of what seems to be their hit song, ‘Are you Sensation’, I’m pretty sure that my ass started to move and I may or may not have began to chair dance, I felt like I was in Miami Vice.
‘Are you Sensation’ is funky and flippant it makes you want to move your body and make love at the same time. If the Jets and Earth, Wind, and Fire had offspring it would be Tigercity.
So much synth, so much soul, and so much uhh! Although their five song EP is not all funky, it’s the perfect spring time accessory and definitely something you should pick up, your friends will be impressed. They’re so new that you can’t find their record in stores or on Itunes yet but if you hit up www.myspace.com/tigercity you can order it from there.
www.tigercitymusic.com

I Saw, I Conquered, I Came

I have had a really shitty day and I’m sick and tired and tired and sick of talking to people about things. I’m sick of trying to make my points and trying to explain how I’m feeling, I’m way over it. (Keep in mind this was written on 12/23/06) But earlier this week when I was stuck on a couch in southern california with hives I caught the dead end of this news story about people and their blogs. All the people they interviewed were totally nerdy so I thought I’d fit in.

Anyhow so here I am single once again and blogging up a storm with my buddy Hering. And this is where my story begins and well who really knows where the hell it’s going to end. But the journey to find love will continue and by both choice and nature I’ll action pack the ride with my obsession and love for music. So allow me to begin and bless this blog with my douche bag story of love over the past year or so for me. I begin the epic story in August because that’s when I met the last boy that I crossed off my back, as of just yesterday.
God bless my tattoo guy for being so damn flexible.
Here she blows!

It’s early August and I’m single, I had been single for about three years at this point (nothing long term, I liked putting a two month max on my men) and I was living it up. I dated guys and disposed of them like it was a sport, much like how a guy might deal with dating women only worse.
I rarely paid for dinners or drinks during those years.
I came, I saw, I conquered, or was it I saw, I conquered, I came?
Yeah, that was it. I went through front men of popular bands, chefs, professional skateboarders, professional bmx bike riders, several drummers, producers, promoters, guitar players, film directors, cartographers (i do love love love maps), tour managers, trust fund babies, tattoo artists, band managers, you name it and I did it, literally. I wasn’t always this heartless though, in fact at one point my heart was big and grand and I was as, if not more emotional than Meg Ryan during the end scene of Sleepless in Seattle. But I had my heart broken a few too many times and it just made me callous to other peoples feelings.
I had it out for mankind, namely those of the male race. Those rancid assholes had another thing coming, and that was me and it was going to be all over their face and then I’d be gone.
I tried to use tattoos as my coping mechanism, I tried the requisite shrink visits, I tried soothing the pain by drinking, I even tried volunteer work and nothing helped, so giving them back what they gave me was my best laid plan.
But after a while, three years that is, I started to feel empty. I realized that all the while I thought the drive thru approach to dating was doing me good and that I wasn’t falling for these men when really I may have but just didn’t know it because I wanted to hurt and destroy and that was my mantra. It was time, oh God, and I couldn’t believe I was even considering this; it was time for a boyfriend or at the very least someone that I could see myself falling in love with. And what good timing, I met someone but as my life goes my timing was shit and at this point in his life a girlfriend is not something that he can deal with, I’m not going to lie, I was to say the very least, crushed. There’s an intuitive and terrified little corner of my mind that feels that although this may seem like the end, that it might in fact just be the tip of the iceberg. Gah!
I liked him, but I’m not sure if I can really love yet, sometimes I think I can and I do but my feelings don’t fit the dictionary definition of love at this juncture, see below. But hang on after actually reading the definition of love maybe I was. FUCK!

love:
Pronunciation: 'luhv
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English lufu; akin to Old High German luba love, Old English lEof dear, Latin lubEre, libEre to please
1 a (1) : strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties (2) : attraction based on sexual desire : affection and tenderness felt by lovers (3) : affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests b : an assurance of love
2 : warm attachment, enthusiasm, or devotion

I guess those things take time to heal, and still I have to grow that skin back that I lost three years ago and most recently as well. At the dead end of my last bad relationship I got seven hearts tattooed on my back with the top two crossed off. Seven hearts because that’s my lucky number and two outs because that’s how many times I had legitimately lost myself to love. Well, I’ve crossed yet another heart out. So we’re three down and four to go, that’s not too bad, a little under half. Things could be worse I suppose.

How did I manage to date all these hot shots?
I know that’s a good question.
I’m not stunningly gorgeous but I’m not ugly, I’m not a career gold digger, I’m not rich, but I do work in the music industry and for some reason men hold women in this particular line of work in high regards. I could never quite figure it out, maybe it’s because it’s known as a male dominated industry and most men are gay and I at least half way fit the bill? Or maybe it’s because they want to be dominated and think that if I can rock the music scene then I can rock their scene? Or maybe they just want a chick that can school them at music trivia? Or maybe, they’re looking for someone who is busier than they are, someone they’ll only see between the hours of 9pm and 6am? No matter the reason I get my fair share of attractive, well-groomed, and sometimes famous ass. I’ve been working in music since I was old enough to work. I worked in a record store, as a rave promoter, band manager, booking agent, concert promoter, and am now dabbling in the upscale event planning world for money and nursing a baby booking agency which I own with a close friend for fun and hopefully future. I also read to a blind elderly woman twice a week, promote shows, do pro bono booking work for new bands, and am in eager pursuit of love. It’s fucking work and I somehow manage to do it without putting my hand or anyone else’s hand in a blender, or at least I haven’t yet. There’s still time though.