Fall Review

No excuses for the lack of activity on this blog over the last two months. However, no lack of cool shit going down, here are a few events that I was proud to be a part of over the course of the fall.

This is a tee shirt I helped the Mugs put together for a recent reunion show. For those of you who are ignorant to the Mugs, they are New York Hard Core's best kept secret. Based out of Maspeth Queens, they have played since 2000 with a rotating line-up to mixed reviews. In 2002 they recruited New York Hard Core legend Jay Rogan(Eyes of Hate, No Self Pride, and currently Caught In A Trap)on drums to solidify their line-up.

After recording the classic "Sex, Mugs and Rock n' Roll" in 2003 with some guy named Don Furry, they played a few memorable gigs around the Lower East Side, including an epic St. Patricks day show with Murphy's Law. Mugs shows often ended abruptly, sometimes in violence, sometimes due to legal infractions. One thing is for sure the Mugs have always been impulsive and exciting. You never know what will happen. Well you kinda have an idea something is gonna result in them getting shut down or kicked out, but how will it happen?

The show was held at an anonymous Spanish cuisine restaurant near the Financial district in NYC. There was a great alley next to the place where I found Sammy(bass) and a few stray Budweisers. As you can tell Sammy already had his share. Inside the restaurant I found Metal Thrashing Matt(Guitar) and Legendary clothing designer/ hardcore impresario Rat Bones hawking their ware's.

Rat Bones did good at that show. He sold some shirts to yuppies who thought they went out for a night of fine dinning. Little did they know what they were getting into. Phil Mugs(Vocals) even got in on the fun.

Olde York open up the show, and from the first notes it was clear that the management did not realize what they had in store for themselves. The owner came out with some sort of Noiseometer, to measure the disciple level of the speakers. Look closely it is in the left hand of the Lou Pinella looking motherfucker.

Well this guy busted Olde York's balls through out the entire set, and it was clear that the Mugs should get on and try to play as many songd as possible before the club owner shuts it down.

The place went off immediately. It was an all ages show, filled with people who were too young for the Mugs the first time around.

Such Mugs hits included "Sack Attack", "How Much Do The Lions Cost?" and "I Get What I Want". Someone ripped open a bag of flour after Phil made a crack about coke. The energy was great, but it put the management on their toes. They responded by taking the microphones away. No worries, the crowd helped Reverend Phil spread the word.

After a couple of songs without a mic the set was over, so was the show. There was a big rush to the door to get a refund, which I think some people were granted. There was alot of under aged kids left outside the club and in the alley, drinking, loitering, pissing off(and on) the restaurant. There was a rumor cops on horses and riot gear showed up, but I was long gone by then. All in all, another Mugs show. The following weekend after that Mugs show I went to Vermont with Chris Balrtus to pick up Caitlin's 1964 Plymouth Valiant. Chris purchased this car from "Dr. Valiant" Andy Whittenbourne of New Jersey. Story goes after he evacuated New Orleans in his 1965 Valiant, he picked this one up out of Hemmings Motor News, and he's still getting his $500 out of it.

I love this car. Lot's of good memories associated with it. My senior year of college we drove it to New Orleans. Visited a few times after that. Cruising the Crescent City streets at night was always a treat in that '64. It has a 225 cu in. slant six engine. Not as economical as the 170, but it has good pep by comparison.

This is a 1962 Dodge Polara that is located near Chris' parent's house. Wonder whats under the hood. Maybe a Max Wedge, maybe.

This is Chris' other 1964 Valiant. It's a two door with a shitty flame job. We built a fire and picked the thing apart. We took apart the interior, lifted the dog dishes, snatched the carb, anything that was worth money or would deteriorate while the car is waiting to get refurbished.

Back in Sea Cliff we see here is a 1922 Dodge Brothers Series I Touring car. Brand new it cost $985, it had 5 seats and a 114 in. wheelbase. It has a 4 cylinder engine and is quiet as a Nun on Sunday. This particular car is owned by Glen Head resident Tom Malloy, who is a sculpture artist and lawn mower mechanic.

Contrary to popular belief the Dodge brothers were not Jewish as one might think due to the star of David being on their hood emblem. The six pointed star stood for Dodge's six points of excellence, what ever those were. I think he said that the car was original, and never restored. Whatever the case maybe, the last time it was inspected was 1963-64. I want this sticker for my car.

Finally one of my favorite nights of the fall was the "Cathy"(you know, that awful comic strip) inspired art show that my buddy Pete threw at the Chief Magazine gallery space in Bushwick. I had just moved out of my apartment in Brooklyn, back to my parents house, so it was nice to get down with some Brooklyn folks for the first time since I had moved. Here are a couple of people who made the art show/party possible...

Pete, he threw the shin dig.

Erica, she got the party pumping, and submitted a cool photograph.

Glen, the wheel man, he owns a versatile van, part utility, part party machine.


Chirs Riggs, I don't know this guy, he was not involved in the show per say, he showed up with a marker and got busy, good work.

This is what I submitted, I would have included pictures of other peoples submissions, but this post is getting crowded.
I've got some good posts planned for December, including a look at the "new" ABC NO RIO! and a long over due tribute to Yankee Stadium.

Get Rowdy

Last Friday the Rowdy Ones(sludge-skate punk from New England) took a trip to Brooklyn. They sat in their converted mini school bus underneath the BQE and listened to a compilation of unreleased songs by old Berkley bands. After a night of skating and consumption of beer they drove to West Philadelphia, along the way they got high on spray paint and pot. They arrived at the Shore House anxious to make up for an abbreviated performance that had gone down several months prior. After wards they printer tee shirts and posters. This is what it looked like.













This show was intended to be at FDR skatepark. I think it was moved due to the shitty weather. Part of the allure to going to Philly with The Rowdy Ones was to catch Partysaurus Wrecks again. I wish I could tell you that they played well and that they are the second coming of Deep Purple, but I can't. I can tell you Nothing Is Over(it could have been Hat and War)played a great cover of "Young Till I Die". I was real shitty myself by the time P Wrecks played. My main concentration other than drinking beer from a cup, was watching all the people at the party coming up with creative ways to drink beer.



Guitar Beer-o



Here you have xMARTYFOULx hoisting a local fella while he shotguns a 12oz Sparks.



Now we have the same dude doing a keg stand with his bike.



Let us not forget the classic Keg Stand, Nice Form!



And of course there is Jello. It looks to me like he's regurgitating beer back into the keg. What a nice guy. I have several more wild photos from this show, but the pins in my hand are killing me, so they will have to wait for another day. Thanks again to the Rowdiest guys I know for letting me tag along.

"Purgatory" or "The Old Man and the Hat"

Like I mentioned in my previous post, my right ring finger is banged up. In fact I am getting surgery later this afternoon. For the past two weeks I have been waiting to see what is going to happen, weather a splint would reset it, or weather I needed to be operated on. Needles to say I have had quite a bit of time on my "hand", this is what I have been doing with it.

Jake from Let Me Crazy threw a wing ding of a Labor Day party. Complete with a keg, several beer pong tables, and a kitchen full of liquor. Every one's good buddy Mick Cantone served up a bottle of his Grandmothers 44 year old Canadian Club Whiskey. I don't think that stuff really ages in a glass bottle, but it was very delicious anyway. On top of that, it was nice to drink a whiskey from a bottle as old as my car.



Let Me Crazy had just gotten back from a 5 day tour, which went well, so everyone was in good spirits. The Autumn People, Eula, and Jay Tea joined LMC and Playing Dead in Jake's backyard. Good crop of bands. I had not seen Eula yet, but they really stood out to me. They are a female fronted indie band from Connecticut. What really caught my ear was how bass driven their songs were, and through Let Me Crazy's bass rig it really had my attention. I don't tend to follow current three piece indie bands, but with Eula I'll make an exception. Their demo was real good too.





The Autumn People posing with Edna, and Momma Fentres.



Meanwhile back in Sea Cliff some things never change. Human beings between the ages of 12 and 21 years old existing is a hardship that The Village of Sea Cliff has had to endure for 125 years. This photograph captures a 70 year old man disciplining a 15 year old kid for riding his BMX bike down a set of stairs. There is a sign in front of said stairs outlawing biking, skating and rollerblading, but who put Sgt. Bring Down in charge of taking a kid's baseball hat(seen in his 70 year old right hand). That would soon escalate to the kid taking the old man's hat. The old man seemed down right surprised by this action, but as I can recall growing up, if someone snatched your hat, you would go for the hat, it's a pride thing. Wouldn't you know it the kid looked good in the old man's Indiana Jones hat. Now at this point the kid books it around to corner with out his bike, and the old man gimps after him. Just as all looked lost for the old man' hat, a very likely hero in a unlikely situation came to his aid. None other that Teddy Roosevelt himself(a local guy who dresses up like our nations 26th president) came out of the restaurant pictured in the background of the photograph and grabbed the kid by the arm(too bad he wasn't in his Ruff Rider gear) and scolded him. What a lovely Sunday it was on the Village Green.



I have been spending a bit of time with my ol' buddy K as well. Aside from restoring old homes and welding the occasional tall bike, K digs drinking beer on his porch. He took a night off from doing that to go catch diner at Chicken Delight. After wards we went to Savers in Hempstead and got silly in the used toy section. He must have found four toys that looked like, or could act like bongs. Not being the pothead type I found he had a strong skill set for finding bong like toys. Puss I never thought that picture of him eating beans from a PBR can would be beat. I stand corrected.

Special kudos to Jake and the whole Freemont clan for throwing a great party. Also to Alyse from Eula for being sly and snapping a picture of me and the Sub-pars with out me noticing. Two big thumbs down for not having insurance in America. Get covered if you are not, trust me you don't want to go through what I have had to deal with this week, and I'm not talking about seeing Teddy Roosevelt take down a 15 year old.

Saturn Bar Car Club

Let me preface this post by saying this, my right hand is a little busticated so I am, typing with one hand. Needles to say details from the amazing Rumblers Custom Kills & Thrills Car Show maybe lacking, but hey, a picture is worth a thousand words, right? K and I had been daydreaming about BBQing the Rumblers Show for quite sometime. We all arrived on the late side, and there was no room for our cars to park in th main lot. Bummer. With no plan B in place, we parked in an abandon gas station across from the show. As you can see things could not have worked out any better.



'64 Dart, '65 Valiant, '60 Falcon



Beans cooked in PBR can, who says yankees can't be red necks?



Jay Rogan getting rowdy, '59 Triumph



'61 Impala



'64 Max Wedge

Vermefug and Friends!

Where do I begin? First off I have been having camera problems on top of camera problems. I broke the screen of my Nikon 4200, then I forgot to buy a disposable camera for my totally bitchin couple of days I spent with Vermefug last weekend. I was left with just my phone camera, which as you will see sufficed in the situation. The day after I got back I shot with my Nikon EM 35mm. When It was time to switch the roll would you believe the camera ate the film? Since I am not full time at office I work at yet, and I would still like to enjoy the little things in life like bus trips and eating everyday, think I am limited to digital phone pics and 35 mm film. On with the show.

I spent the better part of last week crafting a stellar tee shirt and trying to get it printed. The problem was not time management, getting too stoned(which I did anyway), or drinking(which I did non of), it was ABC NO RIO. Instead of reveling in being a Hipster in Hipsterburg and paying $6 for dixie cups of beer at McCarren Park Pool, I went to ABC to print shirts after sitting inside all morning and doing art work. Of course contrary to the flyer that clearly states they are open Sundays, they were not. "Fine, whatever man", I said to myself, "I'm gonna walk home". So I did, across the bridge, up Shredford Avenue, all the way to Greenpoint, with my giant screen, and art work. Here is a tip for you attention getters out there, forget wild attire, neon pants, or giant sun glasses, just walk around with a ghost image on a silk screen, you'll get more looks than a girl wearing shear tee shirt with a nipple showing. "It's ok, I'll go to ABC on Wednesday", well of course the volunteer does not show up Wednesday either. Patience running low. I show up at 6:30 the following day and there was a line out the door to get screens made up. I waited 4 hours, but I did have a fresh screen that only cost me $5, and about 9 hours of my life. Did I mention that on Tuesday I carried 6 dozen tee shirts to my house from Union Square. Do you have any idea how many tee shirts 6 dozen is? Oy Vey.



It's ok, I have to remind myself of that. I am way satisfied right now. Despite the bullshit that comes up In a daily routine, it is all worth it. Once you have your merch table set up at a shit hole in Worcester, Mass. and you are a few beers in, LIFE IS PERFECT. At least for me it is. Vermefug was pumped too. They had merch and they didn't have to commit hours of their lives to getting it done. I could have just handed the shirts off and kept a low profile in New York, but after getting the screen made, and printing shirts till 1 am, I had the itch. The itch to climb on a bus in Chinatown, arrive in Boston 6 hours later, get lost on the Boston T, arrive in Brookline around 9:30, only to arrive at the Wheelchair(Worcester) around 11:15, and the show hadn't even started yet. Yeah, that itch.



Ahh the Wheelchair. This place holds a very special place in my heart. Now before you rush to judge(I'm talking to you local Worcester dude), let me explain. the WC is a lofted warehouse that is rented for $800 a month. It is loaded with skate ramps, pipes, couches, and graffiti. It's sole purpose, if any, is to facilitate skaters, punks, drinkers and drug addicts. It falls under very little if any jurisdiction. Maybe I like it so much because New York just does not have one to call it's own. And if it did/does every fair weather, cocaine addled, free beer seeking punk/hipster/scum bag/idiot would ruin it immediately. Or Vice magazine would show up and trash it in an online blog. Now I don't want to be accused of talking shit on the Internet, so let me make my self clear right now, I am talking shit. The old lady that runs the Wheelchair ripped the touring bands off. Somehow $250 went missing from the door. I suggested first checking her Vagina, then maybe her nose. But hold on, I am getting ahead of my self.

Cross Examination(The epic party dudes or whatever) played with Vermefug and Razormaze(Bitch'n 80's style metal from Boston). Let me say this about Cross Examination, I have not seen them before, but have followed them for years through Myspace, and friends of mine who have played with them. They are in my mind one of those national touring bands you can't wait to have play your town.(ie: Annihilation Time, Municipal Waste, ANS, and I guess if you are from Texas, Vermefug)They were very solid, as a touring band should be. Good crowd reaction, but I wonder why they played first? Vermefug had a really good show, complete with air horn, strobe light and fog machine. I think they got the crowd really amped. The crowd would have torn the place apart if CE closed the show. Instead Cross Examination had no issues with tearing the place apart when they did not get paid. I remember being loaded outside the WC when I had this weird "Dazed and Confused" moment. I walked through all the groups of people talking, and everyone was a buzz about how the bands were not going to get paid. I heard a shriek from the inside,

"WHERE'S THE MONEY!",

"I don't know, it's gone"

"FIND IT!"

It was at this moment when an unidentified member of CE tried throwing a couch down a concrete ramp. It was more of a spectacle than an attempt to actually get money from the old lady who runs the WC. I didn't think they would beat it out of her, every one was just pissed they were getting stiffed. They must have sold some merch at least. I mean they got $15 from me. The first star of the night was Mr. John Shirley. He paid The Fug and CE $40 out of his own pocket. Our second star, this guy...



I guess he tours with CE and video tapes them, that's right, VHS recorder, ala Marty McFly or Clark Grizzwald. Had the total late 80's early 90's party duder thing going on. He's like the old dudes I see at car shows with life size replica Elvis Presley mannequins in their 1959 Chrysler 300 convertibles. Totally dedicated to a particular style of an era. Rock on VHS Party Dude! Our third star goes to Ginn. Thank you for facilitating a great place to party and do what you want, despite the fact you ripped off my friends. Special thanks to Sam, Alex and Razormaze for driving, putting us up, and putting up with a little late night cleaning. Ask Nate, or Adam for the details.

Mid Summer Review

With July nearly through and very few blogs to show for it, I have some catching up to do. This month has been jammed with 40+ hour work weeks, and lots adventure packed weekends. The weekend following my Philly trip, I spent a good deal of time on Long Island. Went to Bellmore Cruise night with Mr. and Mrs. Baltstern, where we met up with every ones favorite New Orleans homeowner, K. Got a few good pics, but I really like this Ed Roth inspired rod.





Afterwards I was so hungry. The first few burger places we went to were closed, so we ended up at some diner in Freeport. Equipped with my appetite, and a Whoopie Cushion I picked up earlier that day, we went on to be one of the most obnoxious tables this place had ever seen.
Anytime the waitress, waiter, bus boy or other patron would walk by we would let out the "Bronx Cheer" with in the Whoopie Cushion. As immature as that sounds we had such a good time, K even said that he hadn't laughed that hard in a long time.



The next day Andy Kle and I went down to Jones Beach. Kinda uneventful. The ride down the Meadowbrook was great. Cruisin the Dart on the highways that were developed my Robert Moses is kind of a trip. The Long Island highway system was built post WWII for cars just like mine, not theses modern super-machines that you'll see around now, but for daily commuter shit boxes.



Sometime during the course of July Glen and I went fishing with my old man. It was killer. Boated a few stripped bass, and a few fluke that were not big enough to keep. After that we fed a whole family of Sea Robbins with fluke bait we decided to call it a day. For those of you who are out of the loop, a Sea Robbin is a pre-historical fish that has wings, spikes, and barks. What a pain is the ass that those things are. They eat your bait, and never get off your hook with out a a fight.



The highlight of the summer thus far was attending the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. My cousin came through with tickets, in a big way. He has always been what I refer to as a Yankee Stadium "Pirate". Ever since we were kids we have been going to games, and he has been getting away with shit. Autographs, good seats, more autographs, he's always been able to get away with what ever he wants. My grandfather calls it manipulation, I see it more as charisma.



Well charisma, manipulation, I call it 3rd row behind that National League dugout at the Home Run Derby. We even had better seats that Al Leiter, who sat a few rows behind us. The next night was even more unbelievable, if you could believe that. Due to legal ramifications I can't go into all the fun we had at the All-Star Game, but I'm telling you, it was killer.





Wouldn't you know it, after I had all that fun at the All-Star Game, I broke my camera. Same one that I had for almost 4 years, the good ol' Nikon 4200. It left me unable to take some great shots of me working in the office the following Saturday and Sunday. I worked on a real cool pitch with some higher ups, so I didn't really mind missing a weekend. Fortunately Glen came through in a big way and picked me up that Saturday afternoon and drove a van full of people to a swimming hole in New Jersey, then we sent to see The Dark Night at a drive in. Very ill.



The following weekend was partially spent back in Philly. Caught ANS, and Retard Strength. Didn't catch a staph infection, which was a concern because I got a fresh tattoo from Patt Attack, then went to the show at Disgraceland a few hours later. Like I said My camera is busticated, so Mia let me take pictures with her camera.



..."it's gonna be a big dick day".



Gotta a lot of of great stuff planned for August. Rumbler Car Show on the 23rd, plus I am trying to get a few '64 rides to roll over to Shea Stadium for a tailgate. More than likely to end up in Philly at some point before the end of the month as well. Can't afford to replace my digital camera right now, so looks like I might be shooting film. More cool shit to come.