You're like water for my soul, when it gets thirsty.

I just got to work about an hour ago and I have listened to this song about 8 times already. I love it! It's the one that is on Mtv all the time. The kids love it and now I do too. It's Matisyahu. The song is "King Without A Crown".

I was just doing some research on Matisyahu and came across the Pitchfork review of his new album. Ouch! Here is an excerpt.

"Authenticity and showmanship appear to be the stumbling blocks and great emancipators for Matisyahu. Inexplicably, he attracts jam-rock blaggards and disoriented hipsters with nowhere else to turn with his wacky ability to make beat noises out of his mouth. It was annoying when Justin Timberlake did it and it's annoying now. Still, as large venues continue to sell out, Baby Boomers remember they luuuhve Marley and hey, this guy, at least, kinda sounds like him if you can't remember the 70s that well. Plus he's worth an extra 20 minutes of convos at the steak house before the show. "Wait, he's Jewish? You're kidding!?!" It's sad that relatively innocuous musicians are indicted on the strength of their audience, but sometimes the demographics don't lie."

Tell me what you think. (too late...I removed the MP3)

By the way...I had a great weekend. More later. With pictures!

Banjo picking grrl

Banjo picking grrl
Originally uploaded by bitterbutter.

Last night I went with Monica to interview a bunch of folks who have a weekly "old-time" music jam at the Algebra Tea House on Murray Hill Road in Little Italy.

It usually starts around 8pm and any talent level I believe is invited.

The people were all so nice. The music was really good. I enjoyed being there and taking pictures. I plan to use the pictures for a zine Monica and I are putting together for her telethon radio show on April 3rd. She is going to give them away to people who donate so much to her show. I don't think she knows what the donation amount has to be yet.

Praise Chicken

Praise Chicken
Originally uploaded by bitterbutter.

Jesus died for our dinner.

Hail Mary, full of JoJos.

In the name of the Father,
The Son, and the Value Pak.

"Brokeback" wins gays place in Hollywood history

I thought this headline from "Reuters Entertainment News" was pretty funny. What's next?

LESBIANS START EXPLORING PHYSICAL EDUCATION FIELDS


or


BROADWAY FOUND TO ATTRACT GAY MEN TO IT'S AUDIENCE


Jeez.

Okay...here's another song for ya. It's the Stars covering The Boss.(Sorry, too late. I removed the link. C'mon! Keep up!) I'm not sure if I like it or not yet. Tell me what you think. It's a live recording.

The Amen Break

This is really cool. I have always loved this drum beat and never knew anything about it. It's like a drug. Whenever I hear it, I immediately want to hear it more.

Listen to this whole thing. You'll be glad you did.

2 Songs

These are two songs I have been listening to today. The first one is a Kimya Dawson song I downloaded from my fave MP3 site, Said The Gramophone. The song is called My Rollercoaster. It's a lot of fun. Silly fun.

The other song is from the new Stereolab cd called Fab Four Suture. The song is called Vodiak. It's a lot of fun. It makes you do the head turn dance. Like when those guys on Saturday Night Live do their Christmas song.

Enjoy these two songs. I am only going to have the links up for a few days. Sorry, the songs have been removed. Snooze, ya looze.

Taste

On the way to work today I was listening to the Jose Gonzalez cd, Veneer. I was thinking, "Hey, I should make a copy of this for someone. It's so beautiful."

Jose Gonzalez is from Sweden and supposedly very big there. He and Jens Lekman both.

Anyway, I was trying to figure out who I should make the copy for. I thought of a couple of people. People who I think have really good taste in music. I thought if they have "good taste" in music, how could they not like something that is this good.

Then I thought about how that sometimes doesn't work. How two people with very good, refined taste in music could not find the beauty in each other's favorite songs.

I thought, maybe it was like a literal "taste" like in foods. I HATE onions. I cannot eat them without feeling like I want to throw up. So if someone makes the most AMAZING French Onion soup I can't ever think it tastes good.

Nah. I don't think it's the same kinda thing. I think if you can't hear the beauty in songs that are considered brilliant, you really don't have good taste in music. You can't tell what is good and what isn't. That doesn't mean you don't LOVE music. It just means you don't really know what "good" music is.

Holistic Veterinarian

This past weekend I went to visit my parents. My mom wanted me to go with her to take her dog, Cheech, to the vet. They have had Cheech for about a year now and he's never been to a vet. He's about a year old and has only had one "puppy shot", whatever that means.

Cheech is one freaky little dog. He's a Chihuahua but really tall and spazzy. I have been around a lot of Chihauhuas and have never met one this nutty.

My mom got a gift certificate for $50 worth of veterinarian services at a local office. When my mom handed me the certificate to look for the address I noticed it was for an "organic, holistic" vet. I was worried.

Then I saw the name. Nan Decker. She is was a vet in Cleveland Heights and then in Euclid for a long time and I heard nothing but good things about her. I stopped with the smart-assed comments in my head.

It turned out to be a nice visit and Cheech is in good health.

February mornings

sneakers
Originally uploaded by bitterbutter.

On my way to work this morning I passed under these sneakers hanging on a wire.

I pass under these sneakers almost every week day. I can be in the best mood and these sad blue sneakers always bum me out.

Maybe it was because it was rainy and cold and I was listening to "Romulus" by Sufjan Stevens I decided to get out of my car and take a picture of them.

I almost got hit by a garbage truck in the process.


Taking a picture of the lonely pair of Converse put me in a good mood.

His Name is Alive in Cleveland.

His Name is Alive in Cleveland.
Originally uploaded by bitterbutter.

Monica and I went to see Low and His Name is Alive at the Grog Shop on Saturday night.

I have seen Low a few times but have never got the chance to see HNIA. They didn't play very long. Although the very last song they played is one of my favorites. It's on their most recent release called Detrola. The song is called "In My Dream".

Okay...I like to see bands live. I love it actually, but I cannot deal with shows not starting til midnight. The headliners that is. What the hell is up with that? What would be so horrible if the show started at 8pm? That way the headliner would start around 10ish.

Am I bitching about this because of my age? Nah. I have never been a night person. My going to shows that start around midnight would be the equivalent of all you night owls going to a show that starts at 5:30am. A Rock and Roll breakfast show. That would be interesting. The bar would serve coffee and Mimosas. Instead of french fries you could buy pancakes.

I think the only kink in this plan is talking a band into doing a breakfast show.

After HNIA finished their set Monica and I went and sat down in the back of the Grog Shop. Rebecca and her pal Megan joined us. Eventually Neal from the station came back there and introduced me to a guy that wanted to meet me. He said I inspired him to do his radio show on WJCU. He was a nice kid. Neal is always bringing people up to meet me who listen to my show. That makes me very nervous.

Other WRUW people at the show were Tom, Tran and someone else whose name I don't know. She is standing next to Tran in the picture.

Spaghetti Squash

Last night I made spaghetti squash for dinner. It was sooo damn good. Ya cut it in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds and the inside guts part. It looks a little like a cantaloupe with pumpkin seeds. Get 'em all out.

Put the half squash in a glass pie plate or something with sides. Put in a bit of water, like a quarter cup or so. Place some plastic wrap over the whole thing and stab a couple of steam holes in the plastic. Then put it in the microwave oven for 13 minutes on high.

Okay, now go into your livingroom and turn on the TV. Channel surf a bit. Stop at "RoomRaiders". The MTV show that features bimbos and himbos repeating trite phrases back and forth to each other.

Bimbo: "He sure likes blue shirts!"

Himbo: "Yeah...I like blue shirts!"

Bimbo: "I'd like to take off those blue shirts!"

Himbo: "yeahhhhhhhh...I'd take off those blue shirts!" Followed by a bunch of awkward high-fives.

Hear the microwave beep. Skip into the kitchen and get the spaghetti sauce out. Pour some of it into a coffee mug that you do not love (just in case of tomato sauce staining), put a napkin or coffee filter over the mug.

Open the microwave to put the mug 'o spaghetti sauce in and realize that the squash is still in there. Put the mug 'o sauce down. Go to take the squash out and use some choice interjections,(DANG! JEEZ! RATS!) as you touch the glass that has been in the microwave for 13 minutes. Get the potholders and CAREFULLY remove the squash. Ya don't want any of that leftover water spilling out on ya.

NOW put that spaghetti sauce in the microwave, tuck the napkin under the mug so it doesn't slip around during the microwave's spin cycle and hit 1:30 on the timer.

Okay, now grab a fork and an oven mitt. Carefully flip over the spaghetti squash using the fork and yr mitted hand. Take the fork and start scraping out the squash guts. It really does look like spaghetti. Put all the guts in a bowl. Grab some dried pepper flakes and sprinkle them in the spaghetti squash. Don't be stingy with the pepper, sprinkle, sprinkle! Stir it around with the fork.

Get the spaghetti sauce out of the microwave, stir it in the mug a bit and pour over your delicious bowl of squash.

It tastes sooooo good. Almost better then pasta I think. The texture is a kinda crunchy and fresh.

After I finished with my Cucurbita meal I did another rubber stamp carving. I call it: Windham Skyscraper. I printed it over a CHEEZY watercolor sunset.

Yet another view of Kozmo's penny.

One would think I am quite the anal Capricorn.

Not really, I just had this drawing handy so I used it for my first go with the "Cuts like butter" Mastercarve Carving Block.

Depressed?

I stopped at the local beer/wine/lottery ticket store on my way home from work Friday. It's a small place with not a lot of selection. No wait...they have a plethora of lottery tickets on sale. Not whole lot of import beers though.

Anyway, as I parked my car in front of their door I noticed a big poster right next to the entrance.

If one finds themselves at this sad little beer/wine/lottery ticket store on one of Cleveland's typical cold, wet, gray, January afternoons....how could they NOT want to sign up for this study?!

I was NOT depressed until I saw the poster.

(I'm not really depressed. I thought it was funny more then anything. Sorta "ha-ha" sad.)

Thursday

A Close-up of Kozmo
Originally uploaded by bitterbutter.

I've gotten to a point I never thought I would be at. I am so afraid of what's going on in this world that I am avoiding the news.

I have always scoffed at people who tell me, "Oh, I don't read the newspaper or watch the news, it's too depressing!"

God...that's me now.

Take the Romainians bowling, take them bowling.

Working towards that score of 33!
Originally uploaded by bitterbutter.

On Saturday night Monica and I went out to eat at an expensive restaurant. We spent about $50 more then we had expected to. The meal was good, but not THAT good. My favorite thing about the restaurant is that I felt like a teen while I was there. I was probably 20 years younger then the youngest patron in the place.

After dinner I found out that Monica had NEVER been in a bowling alley. So of course I had to take her bowling.

When we got there it was packed. It was league night. We were told to come back in about an hour and we could get a lane. We decided to go get a drink somewhere and comeback. On the way out to the car I found something else out about Monica. She had never been inside a rollerskating rink before!

There was one right next door to the bowling alley so we went there instead of drinking. I knew that we would have to pay to even just walk in so as we did I told Monica to "play along".

When we got in I told the woman at the door that my friend from Romainia wanted to see what a roller rink was and could we just go in a look around.

The woman said "Where is she from?"

I said "Romania"

She shrugged and said okay.

The music in that place was just THUMPIN! Monica loved it and wanted to rent roller skates. She has never roller skated before. She ice skates quite regularly, but roller skating I think is a bit different.

She rented the skates and teetered around the rink a few times. I don't think she will be joining the Ohio Roller Girls any time soon. It was fun to watch the 13 or 14 year olds dancing on their skates to the music. They were really good.

After that we went back and hit the lanes. I think my high score was 70-something. Monica's was 33. Sad. Very sad.

Trying on the Angry Bunny Hat

Trying on the Angry Bunny Hat
Originally uploaded by bitterbutter.

When I finished the Angry Bunny hat I realized it was too small and had to give it to Audrey. She loved it.

Pro-Choice

Leslie and I went to Leprosy Village the other day. She bought me a Crate and Barrel gift card for my birthday. A dollar for each year. Even though I am very very old, that still doesn't buy much at Crate and Barrel. Why is it so costly to purchase good design? I guess for the same reason a really good painting costs more then a crappy "over the couch ocean waves" painting of the same size.

Anyway, after milling about in C&B for an hour we went over to Joseph-Beth bookstore...more like a "gift shop" if you ask me. As we were walking in, a youngish woman, probably early 20s, had a baby in one of those car seats that turns into a little crate you can carry yr kid in. The baby was tiny.

She walked in ahead of me and let the door fall on the baby crate. The crate was stuck. She jerked it out and looked at the books that were for sale in the lobby between the doors. It seemed as though she didn't want to make eye contact with Leslie and I.

We went in, walked around, sniffed bathsoaps, looked thru overpriced niche magazines and laughed about Joseph Beths having Halloween cookies for sale. Mmmmmmmm FRESH!

The whole time we were doing all that, we noticed the woman with the baby continuing to knock her baby in the baby crate against bookshelves and chairs. I don't know if she even realized she was doing it. Leslie and I went to have a cup of coffee in the store's cafe. Coffee that had the delightful flavor and temperature of a morning cup of Burger King or a BP gas station's brew.

As we sat on the overstuffed and stained couch, Leslie noticed that the woman had LEFT THE BABY in the crate near the magazines. We were just sure at that point that she was going to leave it there. Leslie kept a lookout and noticed that the woman eventually come back to retrieve her child.

Sunshine in January!

We don't see much of that here in Cleveland. But alas! I rode my scooter in to work today to celebrate this tiny spring tease. Look at that blue sky over the Cleveland Museum of Art. I just can't believe it. I have not seen that color for a looong time!

The only bad thing about riding my scooter is that I wanted to stop and get coffee. It's hard to carry coffee on the scooter. I think this summer I may rig up some sort of thing to keep from having to jam everything against the cup to keep it from moving around. It really doesn't work. I hit a pothole on Superior just before the Detroit-Superior bridge and had to pull over to see the caffeinated damage. It wasn't too bad.

As I was surveying the flood, a well-heeled woman of about 50ish came up to me in a frantic state. She needed quarters to park and asked me if I had change for a dollar. I had a quarter and just gave it to her. That didn't seem to help. She was still spazzing. She needed more.

I had more quarters in my backpack but was thinking I did not want to go digging around in it. I was sitting on my scooter and was all zipped up to stay warm.

I decided to search for change anyway and came up with 4 more quarters. She was VERY happy!
"You are heaven-sent!" "You are an angel!" "And I love your scooter!"

Guess which comment made me the happiest.

Fever!

Isn't this weather amazing? Ya gotta love that global warming! Ugh.

It is in the 50s today and just MIGHT be in the 60s tomorrow. I feel wacked out when this happens. I get an EXTREME case of spring fever. I do baaaaaaad things. I think this happens to a lot of Clevelanders. When we get a warm weather tease anytime between January 1st and April 1st we sneak out of work, listen to music too loud, wear inappropriate clothing, kiss strangers, etc.

I may ride my scooter to work tomorrow. I took it out last night for a quick buzz around the neighborhood. I stopped at Deb and Eric's house and dropped off a mixed cd I made for them. Deb was asking me what Holly Golightly was like so I threw a few of her songs on the cd, a couple of Headcoatees and 2 of my favorite Headcoats songs. It's a great mix. Perfect for this premature spring fever breakout.

I think Holly Golightly should be the official band of this whole RollerDerby resurgence.

Olive Garden Snobbery

I hate chain restaurants, but sometimes they are the perfect thing.

Saturday night Monica and I went to the Olive Garden. We were going to go to Corky and Lenny's for some Mish-Mash Matzo Ball, but at the last minute decided we wanted expensive dessert drinks and the anti heart-smart menu choices that we love so much.

The place was packed. We found a place at the bar and ordered drinks. We waited for about 30 minutes or so for a table and it turned out to be a lot of fun.

We (and when I say we...I really mean "I") made fun of a really big butch guy coming up to the bar and ordering a strawberry-mango margarita. He then stood there and sipped from the straw. I wanted to beat him up for being too faggoty. (I am allowed to say that since I am a dykey homo myself and just looooove my faggoty gay brothers.)

We finally got a booth across from a couple (photo at left) that at first I assumed were brother and sister and then thought that they were on their 3rd date....or he was gay. I could not tell. I don't like it when people I am eavesdropping on send me mixed messages. Not fair!


Monica and I had way too many drinks. Actually...I did not have too many..just too fast.

For some reason during the dinner, Monica was showing me how gypsies in her old country of Romania used to beat each other up with their own babies. THAT cannot be true.

If ya HAVE to eat a frozen microwaved meal...

Chicken Vindaloo
Originally uploaded by bitterbutter.

You should check out Trader Joes frozen meals. Oh my gosh...so good. They make eating with a plastic spoon almost bearable.

Angry Bunny

Angry Bunny, take two.
Originally uploaded by bitterbutter.

I spent most of last night working on my Angry Bunny hat. This will be the patch for it. Now I just need to decide what colors. Pastel lavender and black or pastel lavender and gray?

I think the latter.

G, D, C

This past Saturday morning I went to visit my brother and his kids. My brother wanted me to help his son Alex learn a few chords on his new electric guitar. He promised breakfast in payment.

Alex got bored really quick with the lesson. I tried to make it fun and easy but he was not having it. After a while Mike took the guitar and we tried to play together a bit. Mike knows nothing but the first 5 notes of Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin. After he did that a few times, a few dozen times... I taught him a few chords and we "jammed".

We made up a song called Pony Girl for his 3 year old daughter Emma who is turning out to be one of those "horsey girls". She will be the first one I have ever been related to. Most horsey girls seem to come from rich, thin, Protestant families. We are none of those.

Emma loved the song and played the tambourine to it. The photo is of me and the horsey girl.

41 is not as funny as 40

Yes. I turned 41 on December 28th.

40 was a sad/funny kinda birthday age to experience.
41 is just sad/sad.

The age that is. I did a lot of nice things to "celebrate". Monica took me to my favorite restaurant, Cafe Tandoor for some wonderful Indian food. We had a great time. A bottle of wine and Butter Chicken. What more could a 41 year old want. Oh. How about Tacos.

I went out with Leslie, Dan P. Ann and Edie for another birthday celebration. We went to $1 taco night at the Johnny Mangos in Willoughby. The one in Ohio City is the hip Johnny Mangos but Willoughby is very cool too. In fact I almost like it more.

Ann and Edie arrived on their bicycles after we had already taken a plunge into the frozen margarita pool and ordered a few tacos. We continued ordering tacos and drinks that night until we were all satisfied.

I did not want gifts but still got some. A delicious bottle of vodka from Dan, a gift card from Crate and Barrel from leslie with a dollar amount MOCKING my old age and wonderful homemade gift from Ann and her sister Joy. A fleece neck gator to wear when I am on my scooter and it's cold. I tried it out already. It really makes a difference. I rode for miles in 30 something weather.

After dinner when we were all getting ready to go and Edie and Ann were getting their bikes ready, Ann presented us all with a gander at her infected toe. She wanted to show us the the hardship she was about to endure on her ride home to Cleveland Heights. I think she also wanted to prove to me that she really "didn't" want to wear Teva sandals and heavy black socks but had to because of the infected toe. Sure Ann.....sure.

Okay...now it's 2006

I can't believe it. I think the only people that can't believe another year has passed are old people. Me. Old. Ugh.

The reason I have not been back updating my blog is because I have had some very serious back trouble. I have never really had that before and used to roll my eyes at people that complained about back aches all the time. I have now been schooled.

Christmas, my birthday and New Years Eve was very nice. I spent all three holidays with loved ones.

Christmas Eve, Monica and I exchanged gifts at her new fabulous place. She made crepes for Kozmo and I. Deelish. That night, on Christmas Eve, we decided we wanted to drive to downtown Cleveland and look at the lights on Public Square and then maybe go have a drink somewhere. Guess what....NOTHING was open. After driving around the square a couple of times we decided we were hungry and ended up at Diana's on W.117th street in Lakewood. A greasy spoon in an old Red Barn shaped restaurant. It is a hangout for AA folks grabbing a bite after their meeting. I think it's because there seems to be a PRO-smoking attitude there.

Anyway, the place was packed. We were there around 11:30pm. Our waitress was so nice, even tho her hair was pulled back into a very, very tight bun that was about 7 inches tall on the top of her head. It looked like a hair cactus.

I had a fish sandwich and Monica had a much regretted chicken fried steak. Happy Birthday Baby Jesus!

Top 3 songs of 2005

I have been trying to come up with my "top 3" songs. Not albums. There is no such thing as an album anymore I think. Sad.

I can't seem to come up with less then 13 songs. There was a lot of good music released this year.

Here are my top 13 at the moment. This may change before my show tommorow morning.

1. What I'm Trying to Say by the Stars from Set Yourself on Fire
2. Maple Leaves (7" Version) by Jens Lekman from Oh You're So Silent Jens
3. The Predatory Wasp Of The Palisades Is Out To Get Us! by Sufjan Stevens from Come On Feel The Illinoise!
4. Kevin Is Gay by Giant Drag from Heart and Unicorns
5. Lullaby For Scout In Ten Years by Scout Niblett from Kidnapped By Neptune
6. My Balancing Act by Jason Anderson from The Wreath
7. Michael A Grammar by Broadcast from Tender Buttons
8. Trampoline by Page France from Hello, Dear Wind
9. Secret Someones by Laura Veirs from Year of Meteors
10. Swimmers by Broken Social Scene from Broken Social Scene
11. Various Stages by Great Lake Swimmers from Bodies And Minds
12. Heartbeats by José González from Veneer
13. Heat by Robo Sapien from Robo Sapien

Wintertime

I think this is going to be another "all snow-all winter" winter. Last year it never went away.

When it first started falling about a month ago I was in love with the beautiful big puffy flakes falling from the #4B5257 sky.

Now the honeymoon is over and it's not even Christmas yet. Ugh.

One Week Later

It's been a whole week since updates. I have no good excuse. I have just been lazy about it. I have been lazy about everything this past week. Emotionaly lazy I think. Doesn't matter, I'm here now.

I have today off work. I'm glad about that. I did not get much sleep last night. I was having all kinds of nightmares and the wind was blowing so hard it was causing the trees in the backyard to rub against electrical wires and throw sparks. I thought there was lightening out there because of all the flashing light.

Last weekend Monica and I went to Ikea. She wanted some stuff for her new place. We spent about 4 hours there. I think Monica bought more then she thought she would. You be the judge, the photo at the right is her going over her Ikea receipt when we stopped for coffee before we headed back to Cleveland.

Reason #134 why many friends have moved away from Cleveland

It was a frightening drive in to work today. Very slick and none of us are used to driving in this weather yet.

It's really beautiful out there now tho. I may take a walk at lunch time and take some pics.

Hey hey hey, you on the trampoline.

I have been in such a crappy mood lately. The one thing that has made me feel a little bit better is that I hear other people saying the same thing.

When I realize I am in a sad, bad mood for no good reason... I start to worry that a real reason will come along. Then I get mad at myself for so much self-pity. But that doesn't really change my mood.

But maybe there is a good reason. Maybe it's because the holidays are coming up. It's so cliche...but the older you get, the more a pain in the butt "holidays" are.

Another reason for the bad mood....I will be 41 soon. Ugh. I hate to even type it out. I could just kick the ass of my 26 year old self that insisted that "age will NEVER matter to me. It's all in your head!!!!" What an ass I was.

Okay. Enough. I'm tired of the self pity. Yes...this is boring me too.

Reasons to be happy. I have tons.
1. My friends and loved ones. I am very lucky to have so many.
2. Jens Lekman. I just love his music.
3. My car will be paid off this month. I can't believe it. AND IT STILL RUNS!!!
4. I have a good job. Sure, the pay is totally crappy...but it's an important job and I can update my blog on the clock.
5. I have a scooter. That little 2 wheeled, red, beat-up hunk of steel and engine, brings me more happiness then you would imagine. I LOVE riding it. I am hoping win the cold weather challenge this year.