Jinkies!

Yeah, so it's already the new year for us Hebe-types, and I don't feel any different...well, I had to say that, but the truth is that change IS in the air, I can feel it. Soy un perdidor. Seriously, though...My 31st birthday was on Rosh Hashannah, and it felt harmonious. A new year started not just for me, but for Jews everywhere, and that a band from Israel (The Genders, represent) played that night, as my new year began as well, was pretty cool. The fact that I could manage to DJ more than competently, or at all, considering the amount of booze I gulped, was an added bonus. As sad as I was that some folks could not make it down (some folks got less than 24 hours notice...my bad), I was really touched by the people who did make it (perhaps there could have been more touching going on, folks...really). Definitely warmed the cockles of my heart, and maybe somewhere below the cockles, in the sub-cockle region. As the ten days leading up to Yom Kippur whiz by, I've been in a state of reflection and self-awareness. I think that I've grown a lot this past year and learned many things. Some of these things I learned the hard way. I know that I hurt some feelings and made a few mistakes. I'm honestly sorry about that stuff, and will of course seek forgiveness from those parties involved, as per the ritual. These things have helped make me a stronger person overall, I think. Though some things tend to hurt both parties involved. Right now, I feel like Doogie freaking Houser, only stupid, and without that crazy little midget Vinny climbing through my window. But 30 was really a coccoon year, of rebuilding on the inside, forcing myself to take risks and make strides to do things I believe in. I promise the people who depend on me that this year, I will do what we need done to achieve our goals. I know it can happen. It's the hard choices that get you to where you need to be. Money for nothing and chicks for free. I guess that's it for now. Not that anybody checks this anymore, since it's been months since I've said anything in this forum...kind of a holdover from a lesson I learned. But if you are reading this, check out the Chicken & Waffles blog for the new thing I just wrote...it's kinda heavy, but I like it. I just wish it were more fiction than it is. I want to write a happy story, damnit! Oh well.

L'shana Tova,
J-Ro

Repercussions TONIGHT at Arlene's Grocery!

We here at The Repercussions HQ are very excited about this upcoming
show! We are playing host to a band from South Carolina called
Something About Vampires and Sluts, friends we have met on our tours
down to The Palmetto State. They are excellent people and an excellent
band, so please do come out to support us and our friends on the road! Show them that we are just as hospitable as the southerners!


Tuesday, August 24th

The Repercussions
Something About Vampires and Sluts (our friends on tour from South Carolina!)
Nitromusk
Ghost Runner

At Arlene's Grocery
95 Stanton St
Manhattan, NY 10002
212-995-1652
www.arlene-grocery.com

8PM
21+
$5

www.mapquest.com for door-to-door driving directions, or...

F or V Train to 2nd Avenue Exit 1st Avenue, 1 block below Houston St
between Orchard and Ludlow Streets


Looking forward to seeing you there! Please check out
www.therepercussions.net for more upcoming gigs!

please dont make me disown you as friends and come on down for christ's sake

Love,
J-Ro
Chief Cook & Bottlewasher,
ESCHE Enterprises, LLC

Life becomes a great Song Title

According to my friend Christen, this crazy woman lives across the street. Here are the things she says screaming on the phone at people while on her front porch:

"how can you enjoy sex if your pussy is the size of a fucking watermelon, bitch?"

"they're all jealous of me becuse they're fat ugly bitches who can't get dates"

I just find this truly amazing. I wish I had interesting neighbors, and the not the kind that bring your family to court because they are too shady to have the kind of homeowners insurance that covers a tree falling onto their car, meanwhile building decks and renting out a basement apartment without permits.

Anyways, my stomach is eating itself. time for foood and a haircut. I promise to post again sooner than however long it's been. I know I suck. But I still love you all (except for you, you there, picking your teeth with the matchbook cover from that dive).

What I'm doing with my (lack of a) life lately

If you haven't heard from me in a while it's not because I hate you (though some of you seem to not be too fond of me lately), but because since I've gotten back from the crazy amazingness that was the Repercussions tour, I've been mostly working or sleeping. When I haven't been working or sleeping, I've been alone in my bachelor pad drinking Jack Daniels (with coffee or iced tea or straight) and watching Dawson's Creek on DVD (I just finished season three, so last night I watched Big Fish...HOLY CRAP!). I'd love to invite someone over to watch this stuff (and drink whiskey) with me, but you all have to wake up when I'm just going to sleep. I mean, shit, it's 6:48am now. I guess that's all for now. Please stay tuned for the Repercussions Tour Diary as told by J-Ro. It's crazy crap.

testing

Oy vey, there is so much going on but so little time to post it all. My record label, Example Such Cloth Hammer Engine, is having a special showcase show tonight at Saints and Sinnners, featuring all our bands... I am so freakin' excited. You all should be there, although the few of you who have really good excuses, like living far away, are exempt. I will be going on tour with the Repercussions late next week, and I couldn't be more excited. I will definitely post later to keep you guys all aware of what's going down.

Thursday, June 17th

Example Such Cloth Hammer Engine record label showcase:

The Repercussions
Space Robot Scientists
The Potbelly Bandits
Trashed on Fiction

Deuces Wild Productions presents....
As part of Situation Thursdays...
At Saints and Sinners
558 Smithtown Bypass (route 347 @ route 111)
Smithtown, NY 11787
(631) 979-6561
directions below or
www.mapquest.com for door-to-door directions

9PM
$5 for 21+
$7 for 18-20
Show is 18+

From Western Long Island: Take Northern State Parkway East until you hit
the end. You will see signs that will allow you to go on either Rt.347 or
Rt. 454. Follow the Rt. 347 signs. You will begin to see signs that say
Rt. 111, get in the left lane. After you cross over Rt.111, there will be
a shopping center right after the light. Make the left into that parking
lot, that's where Saints and Sinners is. It's in the same shopping center
as the 24 hour bagel place

From Eastern Long Island: Take Rt. 347 all the into Smithtown. When you
see signs saying Rt. 111, you will have to be in the right lane. There
will be a shopping centre with a Dunkin Donuts in it. Make the right into
that parking lot, and Saints and Sinners is in there.

-----------------------------------------------------

The Repercussions have been busy gearing up for their upcoming summer
tour! This tour will bring The Repercussions' high energy garage rock n
roll to new parts of the country. The confirmed dates as of this time
are:

Friday, June 25th
At Echo's in Charleston, SC

Monday, June 28th
At The Limelight in Myrtle Beach, SC

Wednesday, June 30th
At The Springwater Tavern in Nashville, TN

Thursday, July 1st
At Murphy's in Memphis, TN

-----------------------------------------------------

The Repercussions are counting their pennies in anticipation of this
incredible tour. Help out The Repercussions by attending one of our
fine public performances and picking up CDs, t-shirts, pins, and thongs!
Our debut EP is now available to order online through Interpunk.com!
Follow this link to go directly to The Repercussions on Interpunk:
http://www.interpunk.com/item.cfm?Item=57766
You can also visit one of these fine retail establishments and pick up a
copy of the debut EP "Don't Fear" :

Tower Records
370 Walt Whitman Rd. (Rt 110)
Huntington Station, NY 11746
(631) 425-2500

Looney Tunes
31 Brookvale Ave.
West Babylon, NY 11704
(631) 587-7722
www.looneytunescds.com

Tower Records
5294 Sunrise Hwy
Massapequa Park, NY 11762
(631) 541-2222

Rock Candy
1099 D Route 25A
Stony Brook, NY 11790
631-689-1249

Elderly haberdasher absent-minded blues

Elderly haberdasher absent-minded blues...

Let me start this blog by relating my weekend to you all (I know it's a few days late, as the weekend is almost upon us yet again)...Got home from work around 7:30am Friday morning, watched some Dawson's Creek Season One on DVD, woke up Matt at 10 so he could get to work on time, went to bed. Woke up around 5ish. After the ritual of computer, coffee and breaking of the fast while others eat dinner and another episode of Dawson's, I set about to purchase a new suit for the occasion of my cousin Zackary's Bar Mitzvah (at the last minute, of course...it wouldn't be me to have done this suithunt on Tuesday, when I had planned on it, but ended up with the computer and cell phone instead). I brambled upon JC Penney's at 8:30, about a half an hour before closing, simply because my mom's associate discount is still good until the end of June. This thrifty Jewish lad likes a good bargain, after all. I manage to stumble upon the perfect-fitting sharkskin suit in minutes flat, got advice on how to take in the pants (which were awfully long for a suit that is a 38 short), and laid out the cash, giving myself a few minutes yet to choose a pair of shoes on the way out. Mission accomplished, no? Ha ha ha. Let's just say that the moral of this story is never trust an elderly haberdasher doling out the wisdom and virtues of duct tape to temporarily take in your pants...

Since I was over there, I decide to check out the scene at Borders and get an Iced Mocha while trying to rustle up some late-evening plans. I call Meg and she's about to get sushi at King Kullen, so I say "Hey, I'll meet you there in a few minutes," and get there in just a few shakes of a lamb's tail. Good times with good friends and supermarket sushi. We finish our respective servings and part ways, and I make it to Barnes & Noble five minutes prior to closing, just in time to get a gift card for my uncle, who has just turned 40.

I get home around 11:30, and show off my new acquisitions, when my mom notices the anti-theft device still attached to the suit jacket. Goddamn son of a bitch! The store has been closed for hours at this point, and I just don't have the right tools for this kind of job. Even Cassie doesn't have the tools, which frankly shocked the heck out of me. So now I have to wait until Penney's opens in the morning to get this taken care of before the Bar Mitzvah. The problem is, they don't open until 10am, and I'm suppposed to be at the synagogue at 10, and the store is in Massapequa, which is twenty minutes away. oy vey. Complicating the matter is the fact that my body clock has me all nocturnal, so I don't get to sleep until 6am or so, and I have to be up before 9. Needless to say, I am running behind schedule getting out of the house. And then I conveniently forget which exit to take to the mall, which sets me back a few more minutes. So I get to the store at about 10:20, and get the tag taken care of without incident, and try to sneak into the temple at 10:45. My aunt saw me from the beema trying to get my bearings and find a good seat. Apparently, my mom hadn't had time to explain to her the exact nature of the situation...not that I am ever on time for anything...

I then was volunteered to chaperone the rowdy bunch of thirteen year-olds on the short bus from the temple to the reception. I was shocked by the mouths on these kids...until I remembered that at my bar mitzvah, not only were we obnoxious, but most of my friends got drunk, thanks in part to my uncle Don. Having survived that ordeal and arriving safely at the Sands at Lido Beach, I make my way to the bar and actually get carded by the bartender, who apologizes after noticing that I'm thirty. I'm sorry I'm thirty, too. I then get to talk to my grandma's best friend Alma, who also hit the booze up first thing, and we talk about drinking and jobs, before hitting up buffets on opposite sides of the room. I then talk to my uncle Alan and his lover Eddie, who have just purchased a lovely house in Connecticut as a weekend retreat from their Chelsea condo when city life proves to stressful. At 40, Alan seems to want to succumb to the American Suburban dream, proving that noone is safe. I attempt to talk to my cousin Nina about her impending high school graduation and college plans and whatnot, but for some reason, can barely abandon the impulses to say "God, I remember when you were born...I cannot believe you are a grown woman now...I'm so freaking old and still have not found love..." I had intelligent conversations with her once upon a time. One of those rare flashes where I was able to see her and Drew as sentient beings without the association of age and distance separating all of us. I wish I could relate, but I just feel so disassociated from them now. And with my usual partner-in-crime Matt paired up with Cassie, I felt like a total odd man out. On top of everything, I just felt old because I was checking out all the marrried women, many of whom had kids. Don't let me go there, please... I really could have used a drinking buddy that day, which ended eventually at 2am, much the way Friday started, with some Dawson's Creek...

New computer

Hey kids thirsting for more J-Ro-ness (J-Rocity?) via the inernerd, how goes it? I am freakin' tired, but kinda relieved. I just got home from work and hour and a half ago, and I had to get the new computer up and running. The iMac kinda ate the rustcan, if you know what I mean. I'm gonna try putting a new HD in it (like a $40 jobby or something) for shits and giggles to see what happens. But I'm not gonna do that until I get all the stuff I need off of the firewire HD I have that everything is backed up on (except for, apparently, the latest bookmarks I had added to Safari..when I try to rescusitate the iMac, I will make a last attempt to get that info offa there before taking the old HD and launching it into the stratosphere (or donating it to the local "Computers for Kids" chapter (I just made that up, didn't I?))). I just parenthetated to the third power! That is a new record, even for me. Man, I love parentheses.

I am now typing my first blog on the brand spakin' new eMac I bought. I think this 'puter will be pretty freakin' sweet. The monitor is hüüüüüüüüüüüüge (well, 16" diagonal is huge to me), it has a CD-R/DVD-R superdrive (thank goodness i no longer will have to deal with that slot-loading bullshit...that was part of the problem with the iMac, and the cd drive lost the will to inhale and eject discs), and it even comes with Garageband on it. I am stoked to try that shiznit out. I'll be releasing a record of just computer generated crap. Woohoo!! It's like I'm starting a new life...a new computer, a cell phone...holy what the? Yep, J-Ro's cruising to the treadmill of the twenty-first century.

ok. time to sleep.

optional

I decided to take time out of my crazy life to post today, since it is May 21st, and my last post was on the 12th. I like the whole backwards/forwards thing. I'm a nerd, so flip you. I'm not gonna apologize for being AWOL from my blogging duties, as I've been kinda mad busy lately. I worked 4 1/2 hours of OT wednesday night, which doesn't sound like a lot, unless you point out that a) I work nights from 7pm- 7am and this is the week where my only nights off are wednesday and thursday and b) as a result of the aforementioned schedule, I'm already supposed to work like 60 hours this week. Yucko. But, it was an emergency, as my buddy Ant had a medical emergency. He's feeling much better now.

I have to leave for work in less than hour. That blows. I am missing a 2-day Repercussions mini-tour tonight and tomorrow. That blows as well. But I will try to catch Imaginary Baseball League at the club formerly known as Luxx in Brooklyn (it's Trash now). That will be fun times, despite the skint-ness of certain compatriots preventing even more fun times. You should come out to see them, as they are travelling all the way from Tennessee. Come out and buy their new cd "Revive," because it is stellar.

Also, as a result of last Monday's NYC wanderings, I have decided to join the 21st century and get a cellular phone. I'll probably get it on Monday, since I'm due at work in an hour. Yeah, then maybe some of you punk-ass biotches will call me or something. I will note to Sergei's credit, that he at least calls me on alternate Monday nights to make sure I am going bowling. But now he won't call me on Monday because he already asked me if I was going. Dammit. Also, I just want someone to hear my goddamn answering machine message. I made a new one two weeks ago, and the only person who has heard it is my mom.

okay, gotta eat and run.

There's rumor going around that Destroyers have a price

My Monday night in the city in the rain...

Unlike the previous weekend, this past weekend was uneventful, mostly because between 7pm Thursday night and 7:45am Monday morning, I worked about 50 hours and slept about 15. I was so looking forward to the joys of Monday night, so I could see Destroyer kick some ass at the Mercury Lounge. Unfortunately, due to the usual plans falling through, I went by myself, which isn't always a bad thing.

Before i left for NYC, my copy of "Revive" by Imaginary baseball League arrived in the mail. It kicks oh-so-much ass. Seriously, it sounds magnificent. There are a million words floating in my head about how I feel about it. Fucking EPIC are two of them that spring to mind. Other terms have to do with the Southern literary traditions it seems to be borne from, specifically Faulkner, though I will admit that I only ever read "The Sound and Fury" once, for school, circa ninth grade, and didn't really dig it all that much at the time, but I did latch on to the character of Quentin Compson IV, most likely because of his resultant suicide in the novel, enough to want to start a band with his name...maybe someday I will, kind of like a reverse Black Francis/Frank Black... Anyways, I was very happy to have it arrive in time for me to drive to and from the city listening to it.

Happilly, I sold my extra ticket to some dude named Ed who gave me the ten bucks AND bought me a beer. And then I got to stand in the front next to a VERY freaking crazy married woman who kept dancing like it was bootylicious kung-fu...I've got a funny feeling there will be bruises on my body when I wake up. In the past (as recently as a month ago, or maybe even just a few hours prior to the show tonight), i would have wanted to kill this one, but I just kinda went with it and managed to enjoy the pandemonium nonetheless. I just hope Dan Bejar doesn't think that I was friends with her or anything...since I tended not to discourage her.

During Frog Eyes' set, I started writing some music journalist shite about their set (they turned out later to be Dan's backing band as well) while dancing when the weirdo twins briefly fled the scene of the attack. They struck me as kinda wanting to be later-era Pere Ubu (more "I hear They Smoke the BBQ" than "Final Solution") inspired, as if Joy Division's Ian Curtis had not died, but simply had his soul transplanted into Dave Thomas's body (Pere Ubu's Dave Thomas, not the dead Wendy's dude, or David Clayton-Thomas of Blood, Sweat & Tears, or even Dave Thomas the actor/comedian from SCTV and "Strange Brew"), his voice some bizare love child of Tim Harrington and Will Oldham crossbred with a J. Mascis whine...I dunno...I'm going off on tangents here.

I did some more writing afterwards, as I wound up in Two Boots Pizza because of a random friend encounter as I was walking up Avenue A and Nan from Schwervon was sitting there, so I went in. Within minutes, I sat there alone, as the rain grew steadily heavier, so I ate a slice and drank some iced tea, and have been feeling kinda yucky ever since....but I did some writing, which I need to finish when I go to my house and get ready to sleep, about random things I did in the rain, and then eating the pizza and stuff. I am boring. Sorry.

bloggin' again

To all my freaky friends who care about the lame non-goings-on in my pathetic little life (it wasn't always pathetic, mind you), where I seem to either be at my job or at the bar, and rarely in front of this computer or enjoying my bachelor pad, I have decided to impinge upon the time usually alotted for sleep to beam up this little missive.

Hey y'all, if you haven't seen or heard from me in a while, I guess I'm doing fine. I'm still working nights, and thusly many of you haven't seen me much. I've been putting in my regular bi-weekly appearance at the bowling alley on Monday nights, as well as my usual residency at Saints N Sinners on alternate wednesday & thursday nights, with the occasional night playing hooky from work there. I've even been spinning at Saints on alternate Thursdays, with Kenyon. It's been good times. And don't forget my radio show on alternate sunday nights/monday mornings from midnight-3am on WUSB.

For those of you who may still remember the birthday/ housewarming party I had last September...I am actually moved in completely, but am in the midst of a furniture shuffling, and it's actually kinda scary. It's like the opposite of feng-shui. But once it is completed, it's gonna look freakin' sweet. I promise you that. Ladies, if you're reading, it'll be plusher than Barry & Levon's pad, I assure you.

Okay, i'm tapped out. My brain is tapioca and my butt is numb. Therefore, the time is night to wrap it up, B! I'm outta here. I'm gonna try and take me a nap and not sleep too late. Don't wanna be late for the drinking...er, bowling.

Let me just start this off by saying how much I hate my work schedule for getting in the way of so many things, like simple blog updates. It's always so long in between them, even though there is so much I want to talk about. By the time I finally sit in front of a computer, I can barely keep my eyes open. Like right now...I just took some NyQuil a little while ago and am fighting off its effects at the moment. If I actually have spoken to you in the last few days, you know I have a lot on my mind.

In what seems like a cosmic prank, I got a flat tire on the Sunken Meadow Parkway at 3:30am Saturday night, after hitting a big chunk of pavement I could not swerve around. I was on the way home from seeing Come Down and Kilowatthours play some crazy Brooklyn art gallery/performance space/dwelling called Asterisk (no doubt named after that crazy french comic strip character), attended by many vacuous hipster-types more interested in dancing to Big 80's than to listening to moving and moody music made by real live people right in front of them. But the hipster who stuck out the most would have to be the dude who looked like Vincent Gallo, but leaning more towards street urchin than psycho killer, garbed in puffy down ski vest and black ACID WASH jeans. I call him "Mad Max Beyond Williamsburg!" I had a lovely time that night, despite the berth of hipsters, and should have seen this coming. Luckily, I was able to put the donut on in a timely manner and get home safely, if a little worse for the wear. Of course, that donut is still on there several days later.

Looking for lyrics to the song "Ellen & Ben" by the Dismemberment plan proved futile today. It is the only song on the CD of "Change" without lyrics in the booklet. The Dismemberment Plan website is temporarily down, and most fan pages seem to have ended when the band did. I had been curious about a line in that song that mentions the Bruce Springsteen record "Nebraska" (my fave Springsteen album). I couldn't figure out what the line was. I have sinced figured it out. The line is "...because she had my copy of 'Nebraska' and they never even put on their clothes..." I had to listen to it in the car on the way to the bar. All of my deep listening is done in the car these days. It's sad. I need to spend more time in my house next door, and not so much over here. Perhaps when I get my eBayed four-track, I will have too many ideas to be content to sit over here watching TV when I could be recording crazy shit like I used to...

However, the cyberjourney (as opposed to Journey, the kick ass arena rock band with the lamest videos ever made) I took while looking for those lyrics somehow led me to the Chunklet website. They finally have a new issue coming out, and i am totally excited for it. I am a dork like that, and you can guarantee that after I get paid next Tuesday, i will place an order for said Chunklet, along with some other goodies. While I write about this self-involved crap, a shitload of people are reported dead in Madrid, Spain after at least two bombs went off on a commuter train.

Well, with that, I should be off to bed or something, as I feel like crap and need to wake up early to take a training class at work for Harris/Louth Air Client. Woohoo! I can outgeek you. Seriously. People who have worked at this job longer than me constantly ask me questions on how to do things. Now if only I could find a job like this without the 12 hour shifts in the middle of the night. Of course, when I say early, I mean awake before noon.

peace out,
J-Ro

The Repercussions at the Knitting Factory was awesome. Having to haul ass at midnight to go back to work on Long Island afterwards was not awesome. I felt like Cinderella turning into a pumpkin or some such. But it was totally worth it. I couldn't miss that show for the world. Hopefully my ass won't get fired. Because, rock n' roll always wins out over corporate bullshit. Be that as it may, however, being unemployed sucks ass, especially when running a record label on tight purse strings to begin with. Congratufuckinglationss to the boys in the Repercussions for playing an awesome set in front of 15 people. Thanks to Tigers & Monkeys and Antonia for making it possible. And thanks to everyone who came out to see them rock faces off.

Hey! I posted a new poem thingee on the Chicken & Waffles blog last night.
But more importantly, the Repercussions are playing a last minute show at the Knitting Factory on Friday, Feb 27th!!! They are opening for Tigers and Monkeys, featuring Shonali of Ultrababyfat, so you know it'll be aweosme!! Come Down and hang out and rock and drink and shit, YEAH!!!


Friday, February 27th
The Repercussions
Tigers and Monkeys
The Fire-Ups

Knitting Factory
Main Performance Space
74 Leonard Street
New York City , NY 10013
212-219-3132

8PM
$7

DIRECTIONS:
You can take the 1 or 9 train to Franklin Street, walk one block south to Leonard, turn left and walk a block & a half to the club.
You can take the A, C, or E train to Canal Street, walk 4 blocks south and turn left on Leonard.
You could also take the N or R train to Canal Street, walk down Broadway 4 blocks to Leonard, turn right, and see the club at the far end of the block.
For detailed driving directions I suggest Mapquest!



For more information please visit http://www.therepercussions.net or http://www.knittingfactory.com !

I Wanna Bowl, Too!!!!

Bah, I knew that if a bowling party was successfully convened on another Monday night, that it would be a Monday night I was working. The fates must not want me to bowl, unless, secretly, it is mine friends who do not wish me to bowl, perhaps for fear that I will smite them mercilessly. Alas, I still feel naught but love in my heart for these lads and lasses. Aye, 'tis true.

Anyways, moving along, it's been quite a while since I've posted an update here, there, or anywhere (esp. since Kipes' beloved blogger is no more -- sad, sad, cry now)...but I've really not been too communicative with the interweb. I'm not really spending a lot of time online most days or nights, and have had little desire to sit in this tiny room for long bouts of time, perhaps because my knee seems to scream in agony if it stays bent for too long when I sit (there is no room to stretch out here). I've been spending a lot of time out at shows or meeting with friends in regards to business with the record label and the Repercussions. It is time consuming, but it is bound to be rewarding in the long run. In the short run, it is keeping me occupied and making me not feel useless.

The Repercussions' long-awaited, debut EP "Don't Fear..." is now available in an honest-to-God shrinkwrapped, UPC-coded, fit for mass marketing CD format in regular plastic jewelcase. I'm currently working on securing distribution, but in the meantime, you will have plenty of opportunities to snag your very own copy of "Don't Fear..." along with some other specially-valued merchandise, including the limited-edition "Heather In Pleather" single mentioned here previously, as well as t-shirts in various colors and sizes, stickers, pins and thongs (!?!) for your pleasure.

Also, right now I am enjoying the spoils of a massive Insound.com purchase that included the Norfolk & Western "Dusk In Cold Parlours" CD that I am currently enjoying. You know you've ordered a lot when they throw in 2 free CD samplers, 2 Indie Rock Trading Cards, and a free Strokes 7". This order increased my Guided By Voices vinyl collection by one LP and 3 7" singles. I stagger at the thought of how many 7" singles I now own by GBV...I'd count them for you, but my 7" collection is in my bedroom next door, but I think it is over or about 15. That is in addition to the 2 studio LPs, the 2xLP bootleg, the 3 CD box sets, and a cajillion random GBV full-length CDs, EPs, side projects and solo albums. My Sebadoh/Sentridoh collection pre-1997 Seattle Theft was hardly even comparable to the accumulation of sundry Bob Pollard projects I have acquired over the last ten or so years.

In other news, I spent the last two days bonding with my brother Matthew Scott, sitting on the couch and watching season two of "Dawson's Creek" on DVD. Damn them all for sucking me into their Dawson-ness. Grrr. I can no longer make fun of him and hold it over his head anymore. I enjoy the show too much, it seems. Simultaneously, I've been enjoying season 6 of "Friends," also. Seriously, the show got funnier every season. I can't believe it's almost over. Speaking of almost over, I think the last episode of "Ed" is airing tonight on NBC. It's been perhaps my favorite show for the past three years since I've been back on Long Island. I don't think I've missed a single episode since December of 2000. I related to incurable romantic Ed Stevens more than I'd care to admit, but if you know me, you know this. Hopefully, they will start putting out the DVDs after it is off the air. I never did see the first season, I think.

Anywho, it is after 6am. Time to close the popsicle stand for the time being.

I've been at it again...making mix cds that is. The latest one I made for no specific person at all, but just for the wintertime and its effects on me...the tracklisting is as follows:

I Think I Forgot Something...My Pants (aka "Respect Is Due")

1. The Shins Know Your Onion! 2:27
2. Guided By Voices Back To Saturn X 4:52
3. Earlimart We Drink On The Job 2:17
4. Karl Hendricks Trio I Think I Forgot Something... My Pants 4:55
5. Clearlake Almost the Same 3:56
6. Death Cab For Cutie Tiny Vessels 4:21
7. Buffalo Tom I'm Not Allowed 4:21
8. Tarkio Kickaround 5:18
9. imaginary baseball league a lot to say 3:59
10. The Brian Jonestown Massacre Jennifer (Peel 1998) 3:04
11. The Long Winters Blanket Hog 6:06
12. Beulah Landslide Baby (Demo) 3:38
13. Dart A Few Hours After This (The Cure) 4:30
14. Pete Yorn Crystal Village 3:48
15. Jets To Brazil One Summer Last Fall 5:03
16. Harvey Danger Why I'm Lonely 3:36
17. Dismemberment Plan Respect Is Due 12:35

There's another mix cd made simultaneously, but it was for a specific group of kids, who I was not fortunate enough to catch up with before they traipsed o'er the pond for a tour of the British Isles...Cor blimey!

But yeah...I should be on my merry way to a festive gathering of souls.
I'll update more sometime in the near future. Meanwhile, stay tuned for news as my record label (Example Such Cloth Hammer Engine, or ESCHE for short) takes over the galaxy with it's first four releases during the first quarter of 2004. Look for the Repercussions to release their debut EP, "Don't Fear" and the single for "Heather In Pleather" (on a CDR that looks like vinyl!!!) very soon...

Also, I'm on the freakin' radio Sunday night from midnight -3am on 90.1 FM WUSB or www.wusb.org for those of you outside listening range. IM me at TheCrazyPablo to tell me if the stream is down (again) so I can try to fix it. Yeah. I'm out.

xo,
J-Ro

I've been quiet lately because I've been really busy working on things to improve my life in 2004. For starters, the Repercussions EP "Don't Fear" is at the plant waiting to be manufactured, and should be in our grubby mitts within a couple weeks. This is the first release on my fledgling label Example Such Cloth Hammer Engine (ESCHE), and I am truly excited at the prospect of throwing lots of money away for something I believe in -- the Rock! It's one of my favorite EPs in recent years, and I am proud to be releasing it. I'm not at liberty to discuss other projects publicly, but suffice to say that I have at least 2 other releases planned for the immediate future, and some freelance help from my friends to help make this work. A big thank you to everyone who ever said a kind word, lent a hand or encouraged my lunacy thus far. Most of all, thank you to the Repercussions for being so kick-ass. Oh man, I am totally so tired...I've not slept much the last couple days...time to crash now that my house is warm again and no longer colder than a welldigger's ass.

Oh, and at Borders tonight with the visiting Shauna and the esteemed Charles K, I found and purchased yet another Television Personalities cd for my burgeoning collection (there is one more Fire reissue avaliable in this series, and then several other random CDs, including the two I burned from the station). I still need time for it to sink in, but I love it.

Hey you, don't watch that, listen to this! If it's still Sunday night and you're reading this...I, J-Ro, am on the radio tonight from midnight until 3am spinning whatever wacky shit I usually spin and stuff...I just bought the Earlimart cd, so expect me to play something from that, along with some TV Personalities and other crazy crap I like. 90.1 FM WUSB. http://www.wusb.org

hope to be heard by you.

Happy New Year friends and internet voyeurs. I have no exciting New Year's Eve stories because I worked all night. From 7pm-7am. I don't know whose pantleg I pissed on to get such a bum rap, but so it goes. I almot got drunk at work, though. Almost. For some reason I just felt compelled to post the lyrics to one of my favorite songs ever, which I discovered this year (a mere few months ago in fact), and am ever so glad I did. For those of you who are not familiar with the Television Personalities, let me just say that I love Dan Treacy and his revolving cast of musicians. I recommend starting with the album "Mummy Your Not Watching Me" as it contains this song and is the strongest of the 5 cds I've acquired in the last few months. There's still a ton more TVPs that I need, so feel free to hook a brother up. Anyhows, if you are interested, you can find out a lot at this website. Enjoy. I wish I could write lyrics as amazing as these. Maybe I have and just don't believe it.

If I Could Write Poetry
by Daniel Treacy - Twist and Shout Music

All those times we spent together
All the love I had I gave to you
Sitting on a park bench in the autumn
Holding hands under a cloudless sky
Happiness is knowing you care for someone
And never having to give a reasons why
For love is never having to say anything
My love is yours to keep till the day you die

If I could write poetry
I would write a thousand poems
To tell the world that I love you

Dreaming we would always be together
Chasing rainbows in a happy sky
Thinking we would always be together
But now I find there's no tears left to cry
If I could catch a falling star I'd give it to you
Even though it's never been done before
And now I'm on a park bench in the autumn
I watch the rainbow disappear from view

If I could write poetry
I would write a thousand poems
To tell the world that I love you

Thinking all the time we spent together
All the love I had I gave to you
Sitting on a park bench in the autumn
Holding hands under a cloudless sky
Dreaming we would always be together
Thinking we would always be together
Hoping we would always be together
But the rainbow disappeared from view

If I could write poetry
I would write a thousand poems
To tell the world that I love you


sleepytime for J-Ro now.