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Monday, 23 January 2006 |
taking a random vacation day tomorrow(guess its actually today) so chris and i can go and see the coachella movie/documentary. its showing at a theater an hour and 15 minutes away.what the hell, sometimes you just gotta take a day off and do something that doesnt suck. you know, like how on tue mar 13th we're going to see nine inch nails. yes, i realize i already wrote about it. expect that ill be more or less obsessed leading up to the show and even more more or less obsessed for the month or so following the show. y'all had your turn, now its mine.
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Saturday, 21 January 2006 |
every day except for tuesday march 14th, because the boylan and i will be traveling approx 3 1/2 hours to richmond virginia to see NINE INCH NAILS!!!!! finally!
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Saturday, 21 January 2006 |
i need to have my head checked. ive joined the myspace cult.
lets be friends.
www.myspace.com/shesmyfriend
is it just me or does your computer crash 1 out of every 2 times you visit a myspace page?
though, I have discovered some interesting things during my time in the cult.
and some new songs from the damnwells
also, lots of people from high school are bald and gay.
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Friday, 20 January 2006 |
from insidebayarea.com
For Rob Dickinson, writing songs is like designing cars
By Tom Lanham, CONTRIBUTOR
ROB DICKINSON, it's safe to say, is taking to his new Hollywood home
like a duck to water. Lunching at a trendy Sunset Boulevard bistro, the
formerly tallow-complected Brit certainly looks the L.A. part — tanned
and muscular, dressed in Frye boots, designer jeans and T-shirt, his
short brown hair frosted with streaks of blond.
He delights in showing off his prized California possession, parked
streetside and already the subject of envious stares: a
mustard-colored, '69-vintage Porsche 911. "But that's not mustard," he
corrects. "It's called 'Bahama Yellow.'"
So now you know. Dickinson is particular about his automobile
terminology for good reason. This ex-frontman for ethereal UK guitar
group Catherine Wheel didn't just move to Hollywood to kick-start work
on his new solo set, "Fresh Wine for the Horses" on Sanctuary.
He also wanted to return to the trade for which he was schooled,
designing high-end sports cars for only the most serious enthusiasts.
In his native Norfolk, he punched the clock at Lotus before trying his
hand at rock in the early 1990s. Six stirring albums on, Catherine
Wheel folded, unsung and virtually unnoticed, and its leader happily
got back into gearhead grease again, this time as a freelance Porsche
specialist.
"And it's been great, getting into magazines again," says Dickinson,
40.
Correction, he hastily adds. "I'm not in them myself — the car is. And
the car is the star. But at the risk of sounding cliched, designing
cars really was another creative outlet, which I'd absolutely let go
for 10 years because of the band. But I've got lots of friends who I
went to college with who've risen to very high positions of prominence
in the car-design business, so I've been hanging out with those guys a
lot and doing some designs again, which has been a joy. Designing for
special people who want special cars."
How special? Thanks to Los Angeles' ballooning market for classic
European roadsters, Dickinson says, his services are always in demand.
Wealthy folks just take one look at his Bahama Yellow bomber and simply
think they'll "have one of those!" — even though the price tags range
from $70,000 to $100,000.
Once an order is placed, Dickinson oversees the Porsche's restoration,
all the way down to its suspension and engine rebuilding.
"I make it look good," he says, "which is what most people are
concerned about. And that's everything I did back in my old Lotus day
job, sketching and presenting ideas to people."
Dickinson thinks the car-design process is identical to writing a
song. He says, "You find yourself in similar positions, and similar
choices are made along the road."
That could account for why, after five years, he's back to recording
with "Horses."
There were other factors, as well. When Catherine Wheel splintered,
Dickinson (cousin to Iron Maiden shriekmeister Bruce Dickinson) left
England for New York, where he kicked around town and gradually lost
rock-star focus.
He knew it was time to make his solo debut, he sighs. "But it got to
the point where I knew the record was probably not getting made if I
stayed in New York. I was really enjoying my time off. I needed to
shake things up a bit, so I came out to L.A. and started making my
album in '03. And, as usual, everything took ages."
It was worth the wait. Dickinson's billowy wheeze is as strong as
ever, wafting through chiming Wheel-esque anthems like "Oceans,"
"Intelligent People" and the single "My Name Is Love."
Playing many of the instruments himself, he also pares the assault
down to simple acoustic strumming on delicate ballads such as "The
Night" and "Bad Beauty," letting his charismatic voice carry the day.
A funny thing happened while he'd been away plotting Porsches. Former
Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin rang up Dickinson, asked him
to sing on his recent solo project. Prime Pumpkin Billy Corgan praised
Catherine Wheel in '05 interviews as totally underrated and one of his
favorite groups of all time.
It was only as news of his return began leaking out, says Dickinson
(who plays Jan. 16 at Cafe Du Nord), that he started to feel goodwill
toward his old band.
"I wish it was around six years ago," he adds, mentioning that a lot
of people who were supportive of the group have risen to positions of
influence in the music business. Rather than being an albatross around
his neck, Catherine Wheel opened doors for him: "I mean, they started
playing 'My Name Is Love' right away on (powerful SoCal station) KCRW.
So maybe this record will attract some overdue attention to our old
catalog. Who knows?"
By all rights, Dickinson should be bitter about the industry that
snubbed his most valiant CW efforts. But he's adopted a zenlike
attitude about the past.
"There is a time and a place for everything, and our band was never
meant to be," he rationalizes. "It was either going to be us, or it was
going to be Radiohead — it was as simple as that. Back in '92, both
bands were poised to break, but it just wasn't our destiny."
Besides, Dickinson concludes, donning shades and hopping into his
flashy Porsche, fate has taken him all the way to exotic Hollywood.
"And I just love it out here. I like the sun. I like the culture. And
the thing I love the most? I can drive here!" And he puts the pedal to
the metal and vrooms off down Sunset.
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Thursday, 19 January 2006 |
so maybe sometime in the nearish future i might actually see 'starla' performed live.
check it out.
and then theres this
pumpkins and portishead served depeche a la mode style, oh my!
looks like 2006 is gonna be an expensive year. but awesome!
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Wednesday, 18 January 2006 |
oh yeah, i bought a guitar. check it out.
its an acoustic oscar schmidt by washburn. its red. and it was relatively cheap.
i was gonna call jeff and ask his opinion on guitars, but i was too eager and couldnt wait till he got back from mexico city. i read a bunch of reviews and i think i got a good solid basic guitar from a good solid manufacturer for a decent price.
which is the good news if it does infact turn out to be a lemon, it was cheap.
stay tuned for part 2: lessons.
and a possible part 3: frustration and giving up. which is again good that i didn't spend crazy money.
time for that drink
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Wednesday, 18 January 2006 |
its very rare that i do much drinking. 'specially in the past 2 years. i went from crazy party college amber, to super lame-o watch the tivo amber. plus, chris doesn't drink, one of my 2 friends here is pregnant, the other under 21. But tonight, I REALLY need a drink. ive got about a 6 pack of beer in the fridge (from 5 months ago) and a bottle of wine.
i guess thats a good start.
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