Did a podcast and really don’t like the weight gain at all so I’m on diet pills and curbing a few bad COVID habits. Changes coming to the show this Sunday with Crazy Jason Elkins at the cameras helm.

Day one of new diet

Finally got the CREEM Magazine documentary which I’ve been waiting for its release for years. Excellent and fun. I can sorta see how it sorta inspired me. I’ve had the book since 2007.

Its been a lackluster couple of weeks. Been very busy w work and the podcast is struggling. The pandemic is affecting EVERYTHING. Some fun changes on the way starting this weekend. Seeing some really good friends tomorrow and it’s greatly needed company and October should be fun for the most part.

Thanks Jason Kenski for alerting me that MK ULTRA was quoted in the May 2020 issue of Metal Hammer

I also just discovered I was quoted in Revolver Magazine

Peter Steele of Type O Negative and Alex Zander of MK ULTRA gets a few mentions here courtesy of Sam Rosenthal.

Sam’s memories of Peter Steele April 19 2010

Listening to October Rust as I write this…..

Peter Steele of Type-O Negative passed away a few days ago. I thought I’d put together my recollections of the times my life intersected with Peter’s.

The first time I recall hearing Steele’s name was from Mike VanPortfleet of Lycia. This was after the 1993 release of Lycia’s A Day in the Stark Corner. Peter said complimentary things about Lycia in a few interviews. I do not have the original quotes, but I searched my hard drive and found:

MK Ultra Issue #1 (1995)

Q: I think the production on Bloody Kisses is phenomenal!

Peter Steele: You should be familiar with Lycia. It’s dark, ambient Goth music. The last album is called A Day in the Stark Corner. I would like our next album to sound something like this. It is the most depressing thing I’ve ever heard in my life. If I put it on in the morning when I get up… I’m useless for the rest of the day. It makes me feel like killing myself. It’s like, why even bother getting dressed when I can just slit my wrists. Such simple hypnotic beats. Everything is drowned in reverb, yet the emotion comes through so loud and clear. It’s just devastatingly beautiful, as beautiful as it is devastating. That’s how I want to come through.

INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE: Full exchange between Alex and Peter.

MK Ultra Issue #7, Summer 1996

Q: Two of your favorite bands, Electric Hellfire Club and Lycia, you’ve had the chance to tour with them. Do you feel a responsibility to the public to turn them onto bands like this?

Peter: (takes a very deep breath) Um, I think the best way to answer that is to simply say yes. I try to put together an interesting package that I felt if I was a fan I would want to see this package that I would want to see all three bands.

Q: How did hardcore fans react to a band like Lycia?

Peter: Some of our fans are quite rude. At some points, I felt like I wanted to go out and say something to these few people who were giving the opening bands a hard time, but I figured that might egg them on even more, so I just let it be.

Q: Projekt uses the quote you did with us in the first page of the Lycia press kit.

Peter: (laughing) Where I said it was “devastatingly beautiful?”

Q: And why even bother getting dressed when you can just slit your wrists. They loved that.

Peter: (laughing) That’s great music, man.

Gotta love the far lefts reporting of this.

It made me very sad last week to learn of the rioting in Kenosha a city I hold near and dear to my heart. Thanksgiving 1995 was my first visit there after one of my early Chicago visits. There were 2 Marilyn Manson shows in one night at the Metro. The first was open the the public and the second was a showcase for music industry people and their guests. Its a beautiful town with a great music scene. Both the Electric Hellfire Club and Electric Revolution hail from teh quaint little city on the shores of Lake Michigan.

How long can this widespread madness go on?

My EK kollection in the studio/dining room that sits over my music library. I took this for an Evel Knievel Toys Facebook page. 1 movie poster for the 1972 movie (an original like this over my bed when I was a kid), 1 mini poster for Viva Knievel, 1 lunch box, 1 VHS for Viva Knievel, 2 stunt bikes with action figures and a spoken word LP.

After 5 straight days of heat up into the mid to upper 90’s and my AC running 24 hrs a day in that period, I was overjoyed to wake up Saturday and open all of my windows and then go for a nice long bike ride up the north shore.

Sunday I started out around noon and only got to Edgewater as the trails were overcrowded with families and Divvy Bike riders that don’t understand the simple rules of biking. It was stressful so I went to Mariano’s and picked up some groceries and biked the long way home. I spent the afternoon mostly inside.

My good friend Steve is marrying his fiance Becky, who makes the BEST carnitas I’ve ever had, on Halloween this year at the museum in Joliet. To make it even more interesting it’s costumes required. I invited Valerie Kenwell who was my girlfriend the summer of 1983 while I lived in Dallas TX. She bought a plane ticket within minutes.

I booked a room at the Harrahs Casino Hotel and it’s 3X as much on a weekend than on weeknights. SO it’s really going to be worth it. I should be seeing Adrian later that night and Valerie cannot wait to meet him.

My neighbors sunflower that survived the big storm 2 wks ago. Some fared better than others.

Excellent Fish and Chips 2 weeks in a row at Bulldog Ale House. Really good food but this time our service was horrific.

YELP Review: I’m giving only 2 stars instead of 1 since the food as always was excellent. On Friday 8/21/2020 I joined 2 friends for dinner on the patio and I was looking forward to the all you can eat fish dinner. Our service was horrible and its always been excellent in the past. I was served my plate and had to ask 2 times for flatware. The lady who was with us had to wait nearly 30 minutes for her waffle fries. We were all in agreement in regards to the service and our male friend offered to complain to the manager in charge. I asked him not to bother and I’d mention it here. I only tipped 15%  / $6 on my $44 check. I could tell the server wasn’t happy and even though I put my phone # on the check for my rewards points I was not credited any points. But to make matters much worse when I looked at my back account on Sunday I noticed that another $4 was added to the tab that I had signed. So my total went from $50.48 to $54.48. Which there is no excuse for and I’m not sure if I want to return again.

I was very hot and needed to cool down after a 3 hr bike ride to Evanston and back. Stopped into the Hansa Clipper in Lincoln Square and ordered a double Jamo on the rocks. She gave me an extra shot in case the pour wasn’t fair. 2 days later I got a really weak pour at the Bulldog Ale House.

Unlike Chicago city beaches which have been closed this year by the Mayor, Evanston’s beaches are all open. It upsets me a bit but is inspiring when I make teh long ride up the north shore.

The lighthouse in Evanston

It’d only been 8 days since the Dock on Montrose Beach opened for 2020 months later than usual due to restrictions the Mayor has put on the service industry thanks in part to the pandemic. The beaches are still closed but it was a perfect day (8/14/2020) to share with my good friend Max Bravo who had just returned home after 2 wks in Minneapolis where he told me the sites of the riots were burned all the way down. I hadn’t had fish n chips in a few years and it’s something I’ve been craving since it got warm.

We arrived at 11 AM and it was the perfect day. My boss had granted me the day off and this was much needed. Max had Baja Fish Tacos.

A nice margarita on a weather perfect day. There was a 2 hour limit on seating but our waitress was sweet enough to let us stay a bit longer. Max kept her entertained with his magic card tricks. My intent was to do another nice long bike trip but I was having too much of a good time.

The cook outdid himself and this was some of the best fish n chips I’ve had in ages. Much better than the last time I ordered the entree here.

The geese kept us entertained as well and it was quite a sight to witness them march in a line.

We then met at Tac Quick for a couple of drinks. I had just been there the night before but its so close to home and hard to resist the patio on such a day. Max took and Uber and I went by bike and was there 10 minutes before him.

My boss I cannot thank enough for giving me this day. And Max thanks for sharing it w/me by also taking a day off work.

4 years since we lost the Big Guy who died on his birthday doing what he loved, playing music w/ his friend Jason Meudt.

I’ll never forget that day and the rough week that followed. Luckily at the time I had a lot of friends around me at my home.

Our world has been utterly rocked today. We just received the news that our brother & Joy Thief extraordinaire, Howie Beno, has passed away.

To be perfectly honest, we’re all at a total loss. And so tears are being shed, phone calls are being made, and we’re doing our best to process what little information we have.

To say the music world lost a legend feels like an understatement. And to say that we lost a good friend seems trite. So, for now we’ll just say he will be truly missed.

-The Joy Thieves Tuesday 8/11/2020

The death count for people in my circle including family keeps going up. A previous post from a couple of weeks back it was my good friend Rick Linus. This week Howie Beno who I met at the first Cold Waves and maybe before in a crowded room. He played with Chemlab that night, he also has been working with Joy Thieves, and as far back as Ministry in 1990. He produced and played on the PRUDE album which liner notes gave me a really intense THANK YOU.He was a sweet, talented and fun guy. He’ll be missed by many.

After the podcast with guest Matt Zane (A REALLY GOOD 90 – min show) I took Emily Sifrit (of eKay Collection) who sat in as guest co-host again to Tac Quick. We had learned just a few days before she got a mention in the UK GQ with Sir Paul McCartney on the cover. It was a very pleasant dinner.

Matt “The Lord” Zane (born Matthew Zicari; October 7) is an American singer, musician, suspension artist, and author. After graduating from Musicians Institute of Technology for Guitar Performance, he attended Los Angeles Valley College for music.

Zane was briefly the lead singer of short-lived industrial rock project Lotus Rising with cellist Tina Guo and is currently the creative force behind Society 1.

Since 2008, Zane has held the record for longest body suspension, surpassing the previous holder Criss Angel.

I knew having my old friend Matt Zane on the show was going to be good but had no idea how GREAT it would be and our longest show to date. As of this morning Friday 8/14/2020 the video version of the MKULTRASOUND PodCast is still being up loaded to YouTube. There are 4 videos on this episode total. Due to the pandemic much of the progress is pretty much at a snails pace.

Thanks Matt.

It always feels good when someone supports the cause. Jason Kenski has been a loyal listener since we met at EXXXOTICA in 2019. He always has feedback and he’s now the proud owner of two MKUP shirts.

Last Saturday I got on my bike early and biked further north than I had the previous week. I explored the trail along Evanston’s beach front and loved it. I’ve been back since. My ride took me 4 hrs and I was beat by the time I arrived home. I only stopped for 15 minutes to eat at Jimmy Johns in Lincoln Square. I saw many people, students and the Northwestern football team practicing.

I got a little kid thrill when I biked upon the Grosse Point Lighthouse. I parked my bike and walked around the back. Tomorrow I will explore its beach and the trails leading to it. It seems very secluded there.

Not 10 minutes later I approached the mornings coup de gras.

The Baháʼí House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois (or Chicago Baháʼí Temple) is a Baháʼí temple in Wilmette, Illinois. It is the second Baháʼí House of Worship ever constructed, the oldest surviving, and one of eight continental temples, constructed to represent all of North America.

Baháʼí Houses of Worship are intended to include several social, humanitarian, and educational institutions clustered around the temple, although none have been built to such an extent. The temples are not intended as a local meeting place, but are instead open to the public and used as a devotional space for people of any faith.

Their philosophy reminds me much of what I learned 23 years ago at the New Vrindaban (Hare Krishna) Palace of Gold in West Virginia.

After a wonderful weekend, dinner after a 3 hr bike ride Friday evening at Tac Quick, an eye opening 4 hrs bike ride Saturday where I kicked my own ass a successful podcast with Matt and Emily on Sunday little did I know that as I went to sleep that the downtown shopping district was hit with a pre planned widespread night of looting by thousands. This is the second time this has happened since May. I woke up in time to watch the Mayors press conference. It was disheartening.

I went to Walgreens and noon and was informed the neighborhood was shutting down at 6 PM since there were hits that like last time we’d get hit again. But then came the ‘derecho’ storm. I had to log off from work at 330 PM and the winds at the front of my house through the windows blew items from the living room all the way to the back of my flat to the kitchen, all the way in the back. I’d learn a day later that my in my guest room framed poster part was blown off the walls shattering the glass frames and many heavier items were blown from the shelves.

The storm saved my neighborhood from any plans of more looting and vandalism.

A derecho (/dəˈreɪtʃoʊ/, from Spanish: derecho [deˈɾetʃo], “straight” as in direction) is a widespread, long-lived, straight-line wind storm that is associated with a fast-moving group of severe thunderstorms known as a mesoscale convective system and potentially rivaling hurricanic and tornadic forces.

A line of severe storms slammed through downtown Chicago and surrounding areas Monday, downing trees and power lines, which sparked fires in the city, officials said.

The storms produced winds of more than 100 mph in some cases as they moved through Iowa and Illinois.

“Numerous fires from power lines that have come down and remain energized,” the Chicago Fire Department tweeted Monday afternoon.
“Much of northern Illinois has pockets of damage with downed trees, debris, and powerlines blocking roadways,” the National Weather Service in Chicago tweeted.

7 tornadoes touched down in Chicagoland area during Monday’s ‘derecho’ storm, NWS confirmed.

As of writing this morning thousands of area residents are still without power 4 days later.