Well what a week so far. We got back Sunday evening from an incredible camping and canoeing getaway in Wisconsin where the weather was perfect. We spent Sunday afternoon strolling and shopping in New Glarus before coming home.
When I got my mail I had an advance copy of Ministry’s “The Last SSucker” which is reportedly the bands final recording. I went immediately to track 8 to hear their machine gun approach to their cover of “Roadhouse Blues” a song that I admittedly consider a song that changed my life as a teenager. Then I played the CD from track 1 to about 3. It seemed very angry and heavy but in a tight way that only Al and company can deliver. They have a lot to say on this record and they pull no punches.
Yesterday when I got my mail there as another copy as well as the newly release CD ”DUB” which are remixes of the previous MINISTRY release Rio Grande Blood. I played more of “The Last SSucker” as we drove around the north-side and was extremely impressed by the playing and production. Expect a full review later this week.
So I am anxious to see them on tour and have been in touch w/ the camp as well as Tommy Victor who called me about 2 weeks ago regarding the new Prong release also on the 13th Planet imprint.
I’m psyched! And these offering are more than enough to keep me pumped well into fall.
- az
I have added more to the roadtrip diary, and will be working on it during lunch all week.
Last night Shelly and I drove around where they are having cast calls and storing vehicles for “The Dark Knight” the sequel to Batman Begins. If you’ve been keeping up on our news, you know that they are filming in Chicago all summer and the movies using the name “Rory’s First Kiss” or RFK. Rory is the name of director Christopher Nolan’s son.
I parked the car in the RCN lot and walked around the WGN studios where trailers that are storing 5 of the Batmobiles aka Tumblers and the Bat Cycles aka Bat Pods. All we saw were some burnt out GPD (Gotham Police Dept) squad cars and a burnt up Gotham Fire Dept Truck before we were told we needed to leave. There were lots of vans for transporting actors and extras and there were reserved parking spaces for Chris Nolan the director and other members of the crew. Have no fear we will return on our bikes to get some real exclusives.
Shelly kept calling me a geek.
Saw the debut of Rock of Love on VH-1 last night. How horribly embarrassing that we’ve been reduced to this. I honestly couldn’t get through it although a good friend of mine, Lacey Connor, was on the show. I’ve known and worked w/ her for years, in fact I was the first person to ever put her on TV. I couldn’t even bear to watch that crap to see if she was picked off on the first episode. Some of those girls are from Chicago and that one annoying little skank that was pissing everyone off, has a lot to answer to next time she’s out at a show.
Was she booted?
The best part was the black girl that said that she loves the song “Every Thorn Has It’s Rose.” Only more impressive was Bret Michaels expansive vocabulary. NOT.
DISTGUSTED.
For now, we are taking a time out and going camping and canoeing this weekend. And it looks to be a good weekend for it. In the meantime I’ll be working on wrapping up the story of our long vacation, before we go off on more adventures. - az
Yeah Yeah Yeah
I know I haven’t finished writing about the trip but I will this weekend as Shelly is on base. Been keeping ultra busy w/ events and just enjoying the weather and the things to do in it. The winters are so long and harsh here that a true Chicagoan is active in the sun as much as possible. All details will be up by Sunday night if not before.
Of course last weekend we were in Indianapolis from Thurs to Sun. Thursday night I hosted the Creatures of Crystal Lake Tour stop at the Melody Inn. It was like an MK ULTRA reunion from 1995 as the core of the creative staff was together in one place for the first time in a decade. Vanessa Bellamy, Jeff Brown Chris Curry and I spent the evening cracking up and catching up on things. I have been as always the nucleus of keeping I touch and have managed that no matter how far away I may be or someone else may move, I am loyal in the way that I will stay in touch. So it was nice once again to bring it all together. Everyone seemed to like Shelly and as well I offered kudos to Chris for his new girlie Julie. She’s a nice and smart girl; of course she’d have to be. Dave Brown and Rob Ondrish who own the bar were 2 old co-employees w/ me at BMG back in the mid 90’s. A lot has change but the personalities have stayed the same. Again that whole scenario was nice. Dave offered an awkward comment in a very gentleman like way to Shelly by saying she was sexy. You have to know Dave, and this was a compliment. On the other hand the brother of one of the band members of Bunny Wabbit who I was told were going to bring in a large following and people would be turned away at the door (a prophecy that later proved to be very very far from potential) had made continuous unsolicited advance on Shelly and kept touching her leg to the point that she actually had to leave the table to get away from the guy. Sorry today the excuse “that’s just the way he is” wasn’t acceptable to my lady. And she was quite disgusted by it. If I hadn’t been busy working the show I may have had time to sit there but as it was and he knew she was spoken for, it was just another rude pre-mating ritual in Indianapolis.
After the show we stayed in Anderson and left around noon to get a room in one of the sold out hotels in the area of the Marriot where Horrorhound Weekend would be held over the next 3 days. But first I got to eat Rally’s.
We got to a hotel right next door to the Marriot and there we plenty of rooms available, but it literally took the slow person at the desk 15 minutes to get off the phone and take care of checking me in. Afterwards, Shelly took a nap and I went over to the hotel to get my credentials.. …..